Three treks into Green Lakes - all with their own personality

The largest of the Green Lakes with Broken Top

One of the great hikes in Oregon delivers the scenery seeker to an area between Broken Top and South Sister. Here, water melt from snows and glaciers on the surrounding mountains gathers to create what are aptly named Green Lakes.

Is there any such thing as "the perfect vacation?" (final part)

Lucky Lake with South Sister and Broken Top in background

Driven away from beautiful Waldo Lake by deep snow, I woke up near Lucky Lake the next morning. Not having eaten much the day prior, I pulled some oatmeal out of my backpack, gathered some water from the lake and cooked breakfast. A beer can stove, made after watching a few instructional YouTube videos, was used, along with a few ounces of denatured alcohol as a fuel source. Lightweight, the beer or pop can stove is not bad for backpacking, although overall, it did use more fuel than I had hoped. There are several different beer can stove designs. Here is one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2p9bnOGmSk&feature=related