Northwest Explorer UER A . B L N A L A The Indian Heaven Wilderness is a wonderland of small lakes, subalpine forest, huckleberries in season, and meadows. Autumn is a great time to visit Indian Heaven: The voracious mosquitoes are gone and the autumn colors vibrant. Stairway to Heaven Clear lakes, huckleberries and easy trails make Indian Heaven a delight By Joan Burton elevation of 4,000 feet, is made up of up this plateau of lakes and meadows. grassy meadows, shallow lakes, and little Trees are widely spaced and underbrush The road to heaven isn’t an easy one, potholes. These potholes are former is open. The boulders you do find are but the road to Indian Heaven may be fumaroles—volcanic vents—that have basalt, with telltale bubbles to indicate even harder. filled in with warm water. The soil is their origin. The Indian Heaven Wilderness is a filled with volcanic pumice. Blueberries and huckleberries are high volcanic plateau located between Between these lakes is an agreeable thick in Indian Heaven. Archeological Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens. landscape, predominantly alpine mead- evidence indicates that tribes (including Though it’s a federally designated wil- ows and open forest of Douglas, alpine the Yakama, Klickitat, Wasco, Wishram, derness area within the Gifford Pinchot and noble firs. The trunks of the trees and Umatilla) have harvested berries National Forest, it’s not easy to find. Ac- are shaggy with lichen, like old men’s here for more than 9,000 years. In cess roads snake around the wilderness, beards, mustaches and eyebrows. Unlike August you can pick enough for a meal as though determined to confuse you the North Cascades, where steep jagged very quickly. Some of the bushes are and take you everyplace but where you peaks define the limits of where you full size, and some in the meadows are want to go. Start out with a good road can travel and every trail is filled with dwarf size, as though shrunk in scale. map, but also get the Green Trails maps sharp stones, Indian Heaven gains and In July, the white torches of bear-grass of the Indian Heaven Wilderness: Lone loses elevation gradually on wide dirt bloom all along the trails. We saw flocks Butte 365, Mount Adams West 366, and paths. The glaciers never reached this of camp robbers near our tents, frogs and Wind River 397. far south. Instead, volcanoes shaped this mergansers in the lakes, and heard the Once you have found one of the en- landscape: eruptions and lava flows built coyotes singing at night. try points, the terrain, generally at an October 2006 WASHINGTON TRAILS Northwest Explorer UER A . B L N A L A OSE R Left: Camp at Thomas Lake. RY A Above: Mount Adams and Mount G Rainier from Bird Mountain. Trip Essentials Indian Heaven Loop The lakes in some parts of the wilder- Deep Lake, and Cultus Lake at 2 miles. Hikable: July–October ness are so close together that you can From the town of Trout Lake on FR Round trip: 15 choose from three or four within a few 60 after about 11 miles, you’ll find the Elevation gain: 1,800 feet steps. Because they are relatively shal- East Crater trailhead, which leads to a Maps: Green Trails Lone Butte low and the water is clear and clean, junction with the Pacific Crest Trail at 365, Wind River 397 swimming is excellent. Because of the Junction Lake. moisture, mosquitoes here are also To the north, from Indian Berry Fields To get there: From the town of legendary; the best time to visit is from on FR 24, you can reach Lake Chenamus Trout Lake, take FR 24 north to late August through October. and Placid Lake in less than 2 miles. Cultus Creek Campground On the west side of the wilderness Because the total Wilderness is small, The route: Take trail 33 south 2 from Forest Road 65, the Thomas Lake you can walk across the width of it in miles to Cultus Lake; continue entrance is a good choice because the first one day, if you wish. But a better plan south over a saddle to a junction lake is only 0.75 mile from the trailhead. is to stop at one lake, set up camp, and with trail 179; go left, passing Le- Within 250 feet of Thomas lie Dee, day hike across the plateau, savoring one mei Lake; 2.5 miles south of Cul- Heather, Eunice and Kwaddis Lakes. lake after another, like cookies. Each tus Lake, turn right on the Pacific Walk on about 3.5 miles to Blue Lake, one is delicious, just a little bit different Crest Trail, looping back north and and within 250 feet lie Sahalee Tyee, than the one before, and you won’t want passing Bear Lake; continue on Sebago, and Tombstone Lakes. to stop until you’ve seen them all. the PCT north past Deer Lake and On the east side, the Cultus Creek the shoulder of Bird Mountain to entrance is easier to find and the trail- Joan Burton is a WTA member from a junction; turn right on Lemei head is reached on a more obvious road, Seattle and author of Best Hikes With Lake trail 108 back to Cultus Creek FS 24. Climb 700 feet in 1.75 miles to Kids: Western Washington and Cas- Campground. cades. WASHINGTON TRAILS October 2006.