Mount Bachelor

June 29, 2024

2763m

Bend, OR

Mt. Bachelor is a volcano in central Oregon that also boasts a ski resort. The highest ski lift goes almost to the very summit. This peak is rather boring but still boasts over 800 m prominence, and is also included in the “Cascade Volcanoes Peak Pin” list. By the time Erica and I got to Mt. Bachelor which was also the last objective in this Oregon peak-bagging trip I was at 19/20 on that list. Actually, the main reason to include Mt. Bachelor was to help me finishing that list. We car-camped at a random spot about an hour to the south and then drove to the trail-head village at around 9 am. The village was gated but it was allowed to park on the highway outside the gate.

Erica with Mt. Bachelor behind near Green Lakes trail-head

We stopped briefly on the roadside for some photos

Mt. Bachelor from the ski resort side. GPX DL

I had opted to carry the mountaineering boots and crampons but the Arc’teryx trail-runners turned out to be sufficient enough. The lower part of the route involved walking on the paved road and trying to find one of the many trails. The trails were mostly covered in snow, so it was essentially meaningless trying to follow any existing path. We eventually just ascended the open snow slopes underneath some ski lifts, and then merged onto some fresh made tracks. The ascent was easy but the view was very foreshortened, and the condition was very humid. It felt like a slog, but eventually we caught up to the previous hikers, passed them and then easily traversed to the snow-free summit. The weather was cloudy and somewhat chilly so we didn’t linger too long up there.

We tried really hard to find those trails

Onto the ski runs now. Tulamo Mountain behind

Erica now on the road leading to the summit

Erica on the summit of Mt. Bachelor with South Sister behind

The Three Sisters Volcano with South Sister being the highest

Another wider view of Broken Top, our first objective in this trip

Me on the summit of Mt. Bachelor to finish the Cascade Volcanoes list

Our selfie on the summit with Three Sisters behind

Erica and I on the summit of Mt. Bachelor, our final objective in the trip

We met quite a few snowboarders on various parts of this outing, but we did not have the boards nor the skis. Instead, we mostly ran down the snow slopes. I could have gone for some glissades but I also didn’t want to ruin the Arc’teryx pants so we just walked down the slopes. The descent took literally no time and I think we went all the way down in an hour or less. We unfortunately had to face the exhausting 8-hour drive home. En route we decided to pay a quick visit to Mt. Hood’s trail-head to relive my experience 8 years ago, and then did some REI shopping in Portland as well as having an excellent Tai dinner. We took turn driving and eventually got back at around 3 am in the morning.