Length: 4 statute miles or less / 5-8 hour activity
Difficulty: Moderate - Easy for experienced and fit hikers or somewhat difficult for out of shape or in a round shape people :-)
Thanks to the photographer: Edwin Enrique Torres - Irizarry (a 43-year old Puerto Rican gentleman from the Big Apple)
Camping or Lodging: campgrounds have a required fee, typically 5 or 7 dollars a night.Camping ideas: Sparks Lake Campground - (within a mile of the trailhead) Devils lake campground.
Lodging: Riverhouse, Inn at the Seventh Mountain and various other cheaper and good hotels in Bend.
Trailhead Parking: $5/day parking permit required
Directions from Bend:
Once in Bend follow these directions to Mt. Bachelor - (Bend is a ski town, so if you look closely when you enter Bend, you will see signs directing you to Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort. Just follow the well marked signs guiding you to Mt. Bachelor. You will drive past the ski resort for another mile or so and on the right will be a Todd Lake sign - that is where you turn right and keep going until you reach a parking area.
As you turn right at the Todd Lake Exit sign. About 1.5 miles past the Mt. Bachelor exit, you can look back and see Mt Bachelor. (this picture is taken in the summer) In winter the entire mountain is covered in snow and skiers.
You now have a choice of parking and walking a couple miles on a dirt road with high rocks and poorly maintained (only suitable for high clearance vehicles) or driving.
There is room here for about 25 cars.
As an example, an old beat up Volkswagen Jetta made it with only a couple backtracks and very slow and careful driving but on the other hand a dodge voyager hit a rock on the way and the transmission was punctured which ended up costing $1200 to tow back down (for a $100 repair job). I guess high clearance and good driving skills is most important...
Elevation is about 8400 feet MSL at the top and the parking is around 6800 feet MSL? (guesswork based on altimeter on a watch we had with us) Don't count on accuracy.
OK, this is where you start hiking if you park at the end of the dirt road (room for about 20 cars)
Here are more pictures of the trip up to the top...
Looking down at Mount Bachelor.
This was the end of August but there were still patches of snow in gullies and a big “mini-glacier” at the top in the crater.
The mini-glacier at the top produced a little stream/waterfall down the between two makeshift paths (caution: some places are loose rock and slippery)
This is the front of the bowl looking down over the valley. This is also where the stream starts and the entire bowl is covered in ice and snow to form a mini-glacier which feeds the stream.
There is a big honkin rock with shade and shelter from any wind. Good for drinking a victory beer or taking a nap in the shade below it or in the sun on top of it. (you can see the boulder in the upper-right of this picture)
Enjoy!
