I once spent a whole day along the rim at Crater Lake and never saw the lake due to stormy weather. I was reminded of that on Sunday when our 7-member CONC group hiked up Canyon Creek Meadows to the base of Three-Fingered Jack and never saw the mountain! A cold, rainy day it was, shrouded in low clouds, but we were fortunate to have an experienced, well-prepared and good-natured group that handled the conditions well and managed to enjoy it. One hiker even took out his phone and showed us photos of the view we would have seen from there on a nice day.

We did get to see several mountain goats in the upper meadow and a vibrant rainbow on the drive out from the trailhead. A member of the group summed it up well: “The weather was miserable but the company was great.” 

Photos by Denise Lowry and John Stephenson