The document summarizes a husband and wife's hiking trip to explore the area around Todd Lake and hike to Broken Top in the Cascades. They hiked over 9 miles along the ridge north of Todd Lake, passing beautiful meadows and views of other lakes. They reached the bowl of Broken Top, an awe-inspiring view. The next day, they had to evacuate their campsite at Sparks Lake due to a major thunderstorm, and while safely making their way to Bend, the wife injured herself on a flagstone patio requiring seven stitches.

1. Hiking to Broken Top

2. Every year, my husband and I go camping at Todd Lake.

3. Todd Lake is located in the Cascade Lakes area. It has beautiful
views of Mt. Bachelor and Broken Top.
This is Mt. Bachelor at the south end of the lake.

4. We love to go canoeing on the lake. My husband usually steers
the canoe. Here, we are canoeing at sunset, trying to get the
best views.

5. The area around Todd Lake is exceptionally beautiful, with mountain-fed
streams and wooded slopes.
A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided to explore the area around the
lake for our first anniversary. We made a plan to hike up the ridge north of the
lake to Broken Top.

6. There were beautiful flowers around the edges of the lake
as we made our way to the ridge trail.

7. At the northern end of the lake, we took one last look south to Mt. Bachelor before
we ascended the ridge.

8. Up on top of the ridge, there were still patches of snow in the shady
parts of the high meadows.

9. Across one of the
meadows, Broken Top
came into view.
What the picture doesn’t
show is all of the lupine
in bloom. It smelled
divine.

10. It was a beautiful day for a long hike. We spent all day on the trail, stopping to eat
lunch by a mountain meadow with a stream running through it.

11. Further along the trail, we found some beautiful views of other Cascade Lakes.

12. We stopped a minute to catch a view of Mt. Bachelor with Sparks Lake off to the
west.

13. Finally, we got as close to the bowl of Broken Top as this trail would take us. It
was an awe-inspiring view. We returned to Todd Lake after.

14. What is infinitely strange about this
trip is what happened after our day-
long hike to Broken Top. Despite the
elevation gain and distance
(approximately 9 miles), no major
injuries were suffered during the
experience.

15. However, the next day, we were forced to leave a campsite at Sparks Lake due to a
massive thunderstorm. This picture was taken before the storm rolled in.

16. It was a pretty major storm. We had to hide in the car to protect ourselves
from the hail and lightning during the afternoon before we decided to bail.

17. No injuries were suffered during our evacuation to our old roommate’s house
in Bend despite counting 30 lightning strikes between Sparks Lake and Mt.
Bachelor, a distance of 5 miles.
Nope, I injured myself on a flagstone patio when stepping outside to look
at my friend’s garden. I had to have seven stitches.

18. I still have a sweet scar.