On Sunday, October 3rd, CONC president Jerry Sebestyen led seven hikers from Swampy Lakes Sno-Park up the XC Beginner Loop to Ridge Loop, hooked into the Butte Trail, and then up to the top of Vista Butte, where the group paused for a scenic lunch. As Marty Rose noted, “The winter XC trails seemed like a foreign landscape during our warm, fall day.”
From Vista Butte, the group identified quite a few landmark Cascades peaks, including Mt. Thielsen, Diamond Peak, Mt. Bachelor, Tumalo Mountain, Broken Top, and South Sister.
Part of the group hiked back along the same route, while Jerry and the rest of the hikers added an extra mile by returning to the Sno-Park via Flagline Tie, Flagline, and the other leg of the Swampy Loop for about 8.5 miles. (Give or take. As usual, the hikers had brought a wealth of electronic devices, though none exactly agreed.)
In addition to Jerry, hikers included Marty Rose, Mike Graham, Patricia Walden, Leslie Austin, John Unruh, Claire Holm, and Ann Padgett. They summed it up, “What a great hike, nice people, and forever views; a fun day!”
The group took measures to prevent any potential Covid spread. Jerry explained, “We masked at sign in and stayed socially distanced on the hike and did a good job at lunch. All were vaccinated and everything was good.”