10/9, Sunday. Woke up to blue sky with feathery clouds. A good sign.
Todd Lake picnic site is less than a 10 minute walk from the parking area where the above photo was taken. That's on a NF370 off (N) Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway. The gravel road continues (deteriorates) after a sign of "Road NOT Maintained". Once reached the lake, good view of Broken Top at the picnic and camping area. There's a sign saying: Todd Lake was named for central Oregon pioneer John Y. Todd. In 1860 he built Sherars Bridge. The first structure to span the Deschutes River. Todd Lake is nestled in an ancient Dacite Volcano that was last scoured by glaciers 18000 years ago. The receding glaciers left behind a rock basin holding Todd Lake which covers 33 acres to a depth of 60 feet. The lake's outlet disappears into permeable volcanic terrain about 2 miles southwest of here. Introduced eastern brook trout now support a popular sport fishery in this once fishless lake. The north half of the lake has good view of Bachelor.
I started at 8:00 to Todd Lake (6150'). There's a trail around the lake, which is different from Todd Trail. Had to scale the slope to catch Todd Trail. Soon I hit snow. It gained a bit of elevation, then more of less flat if not going down, until reaching Broken Top trail. Turn east (right). Since it's my first time, not sure where to turn to go to No-name Lake. Judging from the topo map, I picked a route north follow some footprints on the snow. It's all quite flat here, and a lot of snow. A few minutes later, I saw a guy (with no pack) coming from east side. I said to him: "I hope we are on the right trail". It turns out that this is his first time, in fact, he just moved here a few months ago and wanted to check out the mountain in the morning that he could see from his home very day. We continued together, as there were still foot prints to follow. 10 minutes later, saw two guys in serious outfit coming our way. One said he was here a couple of times before, and I was on the wrong side of the hill for No-name Lake. I felt tired all of a sudden. Decided to take a snack break, and consider my options. 
Felt better after half a sandwich. Since it was still early, I continued forward. More or less followed the main creek up. The basin was now snow covered braided with rocks and melting creek. Once get to the water outlet, (by then, the "trail" is loose and steep), you turn right up the slope to its top to stare at Crook Glacier and the small basin. No lake here, or maybe in summer, there would be a pond. I got here shortly before noon. Very very windy! Hard to breathe at times. Coming down a loose slope is always not pleasant. Luckily, it isn't too long.
Back down the basin. Headed to a low point over a treed ridge. Once on the other side, I could see people. Soon, I myself is on the trail. Even though it isn't marked on my topo map, the trail is as good as any maintained trail in the area. A lot of people on this trail too, ponding on the snow, so it's hard to get lost. 
As soon as you see the lake (1:30pm for me), you'd go Uhh and Ahh. The color is a beautiful green, appears sometimes bluish depending on the angle you look at the water. The lake is almost heart shape. The basin was now entirely covered with snow. 
Walk to your right along the edge, slowly gaining elevation to a ridge. From there, you can see all 3 Sisters up front, two frozen tarns below, and maybe Three Finger Jack and Mt Washington further north. The jagged Broken Top spires are red and brown. Very colorful. I walked out of this gorgeous lake basin via a different access. Very windy at places.
My feet were again wet, and I was a bit tired and lazy. I followed the trail out, all the way to Broken Top Crater trailhead (around 7150', snow at parking lot). It's easy and straight forward, took me 1.5 hours. There were still people hiking in. I was hoping for a ride, so I waited at the parking lot. Being a woman hiking alone is easy to hitch a ride. I asked the first two groups hiked out, and was accepted by both. I rode in an SUV with 4 day-hikers and a dog. The road is very bumpy. It took a good 30 minutes for the 4-5 miles. If I hiked out as I came in, it would be 1.5 extra hours. Here's the estimated route I hiked this weekend. About 12 miles each day, making the 8 hour drive worthwhile.After a short stop in Detroit for gas and a bathroom break at the rest area, I hit rain, pouring rain all the way home. Traffic was moving slower than usual. Got home at 8:40. Still have to return the car. MAX on Sunday evenings are not very frequent, I had to wait for 30 minutes.
