Four in One Cone a Great Hike off McKenzie Highway

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On October 9, 2021 we were able to check another Central Oregon hike off the bucket list.  The hike to Four in One Cone off Scott Trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness has been a goal for sometime and we were scheduled to hike this earlier in the summer under the new Wilderness Permit System; however extreme wildfire smoke kept us away on our scheduled day. In early October, the hike started with cool temperatures (in the 20s) but warmed during the day to the 50s. The hike is not long (roughly 9 miles round trip) with elevation gain just over 1400 feet. The hike is called Four in One Cone due to the nature of the 4 cinder cones which are adjacent to each other and have the unique topography of being blown out on one side with the remaining rim flowing into the next cone. The views from the top of the cones are fabulous toward North and Middle Sister, Little Brother, The Husband and then north toward Mt. Washington, Three Fingered Jack and Mt. Jefferson. The Collier glacier is easily seen from the cone as is another spot which is now on our list - the top of Collier Cone. On this day, we saw only two other hikers the whole day - and those two thirds of the way back to our car. Early October is becoming one of our favorite times to hike in the Cascades with cooler temperatures, fall color and fewer people making our experience very special.