Mushrooms and huckleberry galore! Bushwhacked a bit on some of the trail due to low usage. Meadows and open pasture areas, old growth and burnout areas. Passed many lakes, hiked part of the PCT & lots of forest hiking.
Beautiful warm sunny day. Forest felt perfect in the shade. Even open areas had a cooling breeze.
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The Indian Heaven Wilderness is a lovely place to spend time in. This loop was clearly lesser traveled than the southern areas of the Indian Heaven. Plenty of water and some nice views along the way.
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Nothing epic but a lovely area with plenty of huckleberries and some great views of Mt.Adams. Not challenging but enough elevation to get your heart rate up. Plenty of water.
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*9/8/2020 trail report- lots of blow down on the PCT north of Blue lake from the high winds the night of 9/7. At least 30 large trees are down on the PCT within a mile of Blue Lake.
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This is a very unique loop that has several drastic changes throughout the course of the hike. You encounter unusual flat, grassy sections enclosed by evergreens with amazing views of Hood and Adams, as well as heavily forested sections, and several alpine lakes.
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This hike is one of the highlights of the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Blue Lake lives up to its namesake. We were greeted by axolotls on the shore which looked like tiny cute monsters with dreadlocks. This hike ranks somewhere between moderate and difficult with some steep sections, but you are rewarded with a cold swim at the end, so it's certainly worth it.
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Hiked East crater to pct to Indian heaven trail to Lemei trail, to lemei lake trail to pct to east crater trail; favorite spots bear lake and lemei rock. 10/14/19. 12.36 miles with 1683ft elevation gain Solo.
TH has a large parking area with a camp spot right across from the sign that says slow children at play. There are no bathrooms or trash here. You must fill out a self issue wilderness permit to hike here.
Forrest road 65 from Carson is paved the whole way and in descent shape (good for all vehicles) there are some potholes farther up the road. Forrest road 60 is a dirt road riddled with washboard and potholes, Forrest road 6035 is a dirt road riddled with potholes and washboard. Lots of pull off camp spots and dirt roads along the way. I believe the PCT junction is on Forrest road 60. Goose lake campground is on FR60 (closed for season) beautiful lake.
East Crater trail has a couple of non bridged Creek crossings, lots of mud (boot gulping mud)! Not too many great views of the crater. Ice and snow on trail close to East Crater/PCT junction. Forrested area with some burn area looked like.
PCT to Indian Heaven Trail forrested area with a bunch of lakes and ponds. A couple non bridged creek crossings. Bear lake was my favorite on this part of the trail. No snow on trail.
Indian Heaven Trail; snow, ice and boot gulping mud on trail.
Lemei Trail; mostly covered in snow, ice and mud. Gradual ascent on this side compared to the ascent from the Lemei Trailhead. Views of Lemei rock are also better on this side. At the base of Lemei rock there was a frozen Pond. Didn't need microspikes going up, but used microspikes on the way back just to be safe. I slipped in the mud on the way down from this trail.
Lemei lake trail; snow, ice and a lot of mud! Beautiful meadows and a frozen creek on this trail. Most of the trail is water bogged.
Good for small children, not handicap accessible. Saw bike, horse and dog tracks.
Saw no one on the trail for 8.5 hours. I was first car in the lot and only car in the lot when I returned back to my car.
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Hiked East crater to pct to Indian heaven trail to Lemei trail, to lemei lake trail to pct to east crater trail; favorite spots bear lake and lemei rock. 10/14/19. 12.36 miles with 1683ft elevation gain Solo.
TH has a large parking area with a camp spot right across from the sign that says slow children at play. There are no bathrooms or trash here. You must fill out a self issue wilderness permit to hike here.
Forrest road 65 from Carson is paved the whole way and in descent shape (good for all vehicles) there are some potholes farther up the road. Forrest road 60 is a dirt road riddled with washboard and potholes, Forrest road 6035 is a dirt road riddled with potholes and washboard. Lots of pull off camp spots and dirt roads along the way. I believe the PCT junction is on Forrest road 60. Goose lake campground is on FR60 (closed for season) beautiful lake.
East Crater trail has a couple of non bridged Creek crossings, lots of mud (boot gulping mud)! Not too many great views of the crater. Ice and snow on trail close to East Crater/PCT junction. Forrested area with some burn area looked like.
PCT to Indian Heaven Trail forrested area with a bunch of lakes and ponds. A couple non bridged creek crossings. Bear lake was my favorite on this part of the trail. No snow on trail.
Indian Heaven Trail; snow, ice and boot gulping mud on trail.
Lemei Trail; mostly covered in snow, ice and mud. Gradual ascent on this side compared to the ascent from the Lemei Trailhead. Views of Lemei rock are also better on this side. At the base of Lemei rock there was a frozen Pond. Didn't need microspikes going up, but used microspikes on the way back just to be safe. I slipped in the mud on the way down from this trail.
Lemei lake trail; snow, ice and a lot of mud! Beautiful meadows and a frozen creek on this trail. Most of the trail is water bogged.
Good for small children, not handicap accessible. Saw bike, horse and dog tracks.
Saw no one on the trail for 8.5 hours. I was first car in the lot and only car in the lot when I returned back to my car.
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Hiked Lemei TH to Wapiki Lake to Lemei trail and the viewpoint above the lake Wednesday 10/9/19. If you are using Google maps to get to the Lemei trailhead the directions are wrong, go a little further up the road till you see the Lemei TH sign. Parking is maybe enough for 4 vehicles right after Lemei TH sign. There is no bathroom here or trash. You must fill out a self issue wilderness permit to hike here. Make sure you have a Northwest Forest pass, America The Beautiful Pass or have a day use pass as there is no pay station at this TH. There was a snow storm the day before I went dumping up to 3 inches of fresh powder on the trail in some places. Snow in the lower elevations of the trail started melting out as I was finishing my hike. The TH is across the road from parking area.
Lemei Trail to Wapiki lake is a moderate hike. It's 7.26 miles RT if doing the lake only out and back. I would say good for small children. Not handicap accessible. There is a camp spot in between the lake and the pond.
Lemei trail is a hard hike. Steep ascent and can be difficult to navigate, make sure you have a map with you. I went up the old trail which has a bunch of debris on trail and down the new trail (by the trail #34 sign there is a turn off). It looked like there was a couple turn offs on trail, but no signs on the lemei trail for as far as I went (to the talus field). Beautiful overlook of the lake on this trail with a dusting of fresh snow. Hiked 1.48 miles on the lemei trail going above the lake.
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