7/15, Saturday. Left after a leisurely breakfast at home for Devil's Lake TH, after a stop in Bend for gas, and a lunch stop at Spark Lake. Tons of people and cars along the gravel road to the boat launch of Spark Lake. The large meadow/swamp by the road is very pretty right now, lushly green, with patches of purple Prunella vulgaris elongata. A warm day with bright sunshine. No clouds. Temperature ~81°F around 3pm.A National Forest trailer was parked at the trailhead labeled as "South Sister Summit".
A desk with 2 rangers sat under a canopy with a map. To my dismay, they have never hiked this trail this year (probably not ever), so had little knowledge of the condition other than what I can find on the USFS website. They also seem to have little interest asking people who finished the hike about the snow condition. They told me "as of last weekend, Moraine Lake was still frozen solid". Alas, it was completely thawed out, as you can see in the left photo. It's about 2 miles from TH. The next mile is more or less flat. Potential campsites, due to the readily available snow. Bugs were not a concern other than the first 1.5 mile in the forest.
We continued our accent from snow to screen. Wind got a bit stronger. Forecast is 18mph. We decided to setup the camp below the climb to Lewis Glacier, around 8600'. Not a lot of flat space, nor sheltered. My ultralight tent (Flycreek UL2) was blown crooked. The sunset was quite beautiful, even though no clouds to decorate the sky.7/16, Sunday. Equally warm, and sunny. Got up ~5:30am to catch sunrise. It's even prettier. The lakes down the valley each has its own cloud hovered over. They soon evaporated.
Packed up, didn't cook for breakfast. I should have waited sometime before climbing so the sugar could get to my blood. Was laboring even going up to Lewis Glacier. The blue pond looks very inviting, and quite some blooming penstemons. There's a campsite, just on the ridge, but more protected from the western wind than ours. I think it was occupied last night.
Soon I was at where I turned around last summer. Wind didn't abate and it was blowing towards me. I was having hard time breathing, because of the sand was filling my nostril with mucus, and flew into my eyes. Had to turn around often to catch my breath. 
By the time we reach the crater, the grade eased to flat. It's a football field size flat snow field. I found this flower in the rocks surrounding the snow field. The Teardrop Lake was melting. There's also a tent site protected by a semi-circular rock wall. 
Soon, you could see the other 2 Sisters, as well as Washington, Jefferson, and maybe Hood. Walking past the white world to the other side, slightly higher. Found an ion rod amidst of rocks, probably an indication of the summit. There's also a small ceramic urn with a piece of folded paper commemorate a lady. It wasn't even 9am.Coming down is easy, as the wind was behind me. Only managed to glissade two small sections. Visited Devil's Lake (nice green color, a lot of people) before driving back. Stopped at Bend for a lunch at Immersion Brewing. Tried Twisted Sisters (a pale ale) and Heat Wave (a white IPA), liked both. I had beet salad. No beet, but I very much enjoyed it. Got home around 6pm, end of a leisurely paced climbing weekend.
