Consistently hot weather for a few weeks now. This weekend was expected to reach 100F. I almost canceled my hike. But it turned out to be overcast, and bearable heat, even though I got some heat rash.
2015/6/27, Saturday, Portland 92F, Sisters 100F. Black Crater. 7.5 mile RT, 2500' gain. 4 of us departed from Shannon's house in N. Portland at 7am. Set up my tent and scattered a few things at Scott Lake (4800') to secured a spot by the lake. Started hiking shortly ~11am. It was already too warm for me, maybe in lower 80s. The trail is unimpressive, and very dusty. Thankfully, in the woods mostly. At about 1 hour, you start to see Jefferson, Washington. Then some paintbrush and lupine, nothing interesting. I didn't prepare for the view. As I crested the flat rim, it was a bang! Stark red earth, all the volcano peaks and bumps, Sisters the town. Remnant of a lookout, now home to lots of flies, who don't fly too far from those anchor rocks. Total encountered: less than 10 people.
We were back to TH by 3pm. Decided to hit Sisters for happy hour. Couldn't find a brewery in downtown, ended up walking 1 mile in the 99F sun to Three Creek Brewery. It's the worst walk of this weekend. Food is so-so. Back to our camp ~5pm. I happily sat in the lake for quite a while to cool down. Later, walked (instead of swim) across the lake! It's that shallow. Silty bottom on big rocks. We all went to the north end of the lake to wait for sunset. Nice reflection.6/28, Sunday, Portland 85F, Sisters 92F. 8am-5pm. I was too late when I got up at 6am for a good sunrise photo. Cloudy. We parked at Obsidian trailhead (limited access, but we have a day hike permit). Walked 0.4 mile to hit Scotts Trail first for the Scott-PCT-Obsidian loop. 19 miles 3500' including 4-in-1 Cone (on Scott Trail) and Collier Cone ridge (on PCT). 1st hour is all in the woods. Quite some Beargrass. Then we hit the lava flow. Can see North and Middle Sisters. Then back in woods (thankfully). At about 2 hours, we reached our first short detour.
Four In One Cone is our first major view point. The landscape around it seems stark, black, but now dotted with lots of little white and red flowers. Less than 0.5 mile up the cone. Great view of the Sisters, Jefferson, and surrounding bumps.
After some lupine fields, at mile 5, we reached PCT. This junction is now a most lovely meadow, in almost full bloom, and large. For at least a mile, there are trees and grass, no sign of volcanic activity. Refilled water at Minnie Spring, where the water comes out of ground.
As we approached Collier Cone (our 2nd short and not-to-be-missed detour), the land is again harsh, with interesting lava rocks. It's right dead in face of the North, Mid Sisters with Little Brother. Our mid-way point. Don decided to walk up the cone. The rest of us had a leisure lunch on the ridge enjoying the view. Mitul, this weekend's host, showed us photos taken last year in mid July, when they had to tread snow to get here. The little tarn is of a shiny blue. Now it's brown and at least 3 times as big. No sign of snow anywhere except on the Sisters. 
Coming down Collier Cone, we pass a steep lava gully with a funny looking tree. Then, the west side is the lava flow (red black rocks) and east side, blue slopes covered with dense lupine. At the next junction, we followed PCT for another mile to see Obsidian Falls. Itself is unimpressive, but this mile of PCT is very pretty. Multiple ponds and meadows. Broken obsidian rocks big and small. We met the #4 PCT through-hiker of this year. He's wearing sandles!
At the next junction, we turned west on Obsidian Trail all the way back to our car. This trail is less interesting than Scott Trail. For some reason, this trail and part of PCT requires special permission, and different permits for overnight and day hike.
On the drive back, we took I-5, and had dinner at Pizza Research Institude in Eugene. Not as hot as Sisters yesterday. I chose 2 slices, one each of #1 (pear +pesto + potato) and #3 (chevre + eggplant + onion). The slices are quite big. I had trouble finishing both. I really liked #1. #3 is too sweet for me. I also had a blueberry Hefeweizen from a brewer "down the road" (written on the menu). We arrived at Shannon's house in north Portland at 10pm.
