). The word is, however, that all berries are gone, as of the past weekend. 
On the last weekend of summer (& Monday off) Sep. 20-22 I decided to make a loop of 3 abandoned trails in NW part of the wilderness. Plus, I'd make some off-trail detours and see more lakes, eat as much huckleberries as I possibly can, and swim in deeper/nicer lakes along the way. This map shows my GPS track in blue starting from Placid Lake trailhead, and I highlighted the trails I followed. Among the abandoned trails, old Chenamus trail is the only one with noticeable amount of blowdowns, old CCT is rutted in places but good overall and goes through some of the biggest meadows in Indian Heaven, and old PCT is so good I can't even tell why they rerouted it (and it has a ton of small lakes and meadows). I visited 35 or 37 lakes and ponds on this trip (try this with peak bagging
) but only swam in 3 - the water is definitely getting colder. 
I hiked on Saturday on a good trail to Chenamus Lake (a big, happy, noisy group there) and continued on abandoned trail to Rush Creek. Despite blowdowns, this trail is quite visible and gets a good use. Lots of blowdowns but mostly easy step-overs. I found an old hunters' camp with a view of nice pond, and set for the night.
Don't eat this mushroom...
Next day I made my way off-trail to Acker Lake, and saw some more small lakes on the way. The berries were... incredible, for the lack of a better word
. Acker Lake was very nice, but not nicer than some other nearby lakes, liked them all. Especially this waist-deep, surprisingly cold little lake surrounded with some of the best-tasting berries of the trip
Last, sweetest fruit...
Some more dry lakes
And "wet" lakes (all shallow - some swimmable, others only knee-deep)
And spectacular meadows, connected with each other by elk trails
On to abandoned CCT (Cascade Crest Trail, the predecessor of the PCT)
The forested hill on background is East Crater. The trail was probably never "built" through these meadows and only followed vertical posts. Some of the posts still stand
Nearing Rock Lake and the junction with popular trail #111, CCT becomes very rutted (almost 4 feet deep!), it's clear why it was rerouted. Briefly visited Rock Lake, then Little Rock Lake...
After brief hike on trail #111 I turned left on unsigned but quite obvious old PCT. The trail is blocked by some logs in the beginning, but pushing on it's in fine shape. Tons of small lakes there, could easily add a dozen more but was feeling scenic overload by this point
I flagged my own dog! Well, it's actually my try to make her more visible to hunters, she is all too often mistaken for a bear (one time by her human
)
By the evening, the water warmed pretty good
Cloud show Sunday evening. It briefly rained this night and got much cooler on Monday, right in time for the first day of fall
At sunrise, water was perfectly still...
I started very early on Monday, and instead of returning to Chenamus trail the short way, visited some more off-trail lakes and berry meadows. Very easy cross-country walking, although good elk trails completely lack any sense of direction - it would be easy to get lost without GPS. Also, many more ponds than map shows, so going only by the map is not very reliable there
Rush Creek is dry now, but it can get quite powerful sometimes!
Back at Rush Creek "Lake" (odd red-colored water) we rejoined old trail and hiked back to the car
. Is there anyway you could repost the map or send it to me in a PM along with the location of the hunter's camp? I would really appreciate it 