Broken Top

We discovered the Broken Top Trail #10 quite by accident during a hike on our first anniversary. We had started out on the Todd Lake Trail, which eventually ran right into it, and further exploration revealed the incredibly scenic route it follows to Green Lakes. The following year, we wanted to go back and finish the trail by completing the first leg, but we found that reaching the trail head requires a 4x4 vehicle, which we didn't have at the time. The next year I was pregnant, and then the next year Franny was too young to be at it's high elevations of nearly 7000 feet. But everything came together this year and we were able to complete the venture we accidentally started on four years earler.

While Broken Top is a constant presence, with the trail curving along it's south slopes, this hike also has incredible views of Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, Sparks Lake, alpine creeks, meadows, and wild flowers. It is nothing short of spectacular.

I have seen many beautiful things in my life. But the majestic beauty of this alpine hike absolutely takes my breath away. The first view of Broken Top comes early, and as it came into sight my throat tightened and I felt an overwhelming presence and peace that comes only in the shadows of something awesome. Only one other time have I been so emotionally effected by a natural setting and that was at Glacier National Park at dusk, when the setting sun cast a pinkish, golden glow across it's incredibly dramatic craggy peaks.

At times, I think it is a good thing to feel small, and to understand your existance for what it really is--just a small speck in time. Not insignificant, but small. With our lives rotating around routines, careers, families, and life, the occurances of that feeling can be very few and far between. I experienced that feeling on this hike, and it has stayed with me since. I know it will gradually fade, as it already is, until it resurfaces when I am there again. I am already looking forward to that time.