Opening Photo:
Panther Creek Road
View of Mount Adams from FR-65.
Cottonwoods along FR-60, at Goose Lake.
Map of the Loop
We started out on the East Crater Trailhead, and headed up the eastern slopes of the Indian Heaven Wilderness.
East Crater Trail.
East Crater Trail
A few patches of fall color near some ponds
Small pond along the East Crater Trail
Nice fall colors amid a bluebird sky
Junction Lake. From here, we took the PCT to the right.
Bear Lake
Bear Lake from further down the shore
A short bit later on the PCT, we reached Deer Lake.
Deer Lake
Fall colors at Deer Lake
After Deer Lake, we turned right onto the Indian Heaven Trail, headed for Clear Lake.
Clear Lake
Clear Lake, with a bit of remaining fall color
Boulder slope along the Indian Heaven Trail
We then took a spur off of the planned loop, down to Cultus Lake and Deep Lake, via the Indian Heaven Trail and the Deep Lake Trail.
The Indian Heaven Trail below Bird Mountain, lined with a brilliant array of color
A view of Lemei Rock above Cultus Lake. Lemei Rock, a remnant of an eroded shield volcano, is the highest peak in the Indian Heaven Volcanic Field.
Beautiful reflections in Cultus Lake, one of the most photogenic lakes along this loop.
After Cultus Lake, we took the spur trail to Deep Lake.
Along the way, some nice seasonal ponds provided some beautiful reflections!
Various meadows along the trail
Deep Lake is indeed deep! Mt Adams
More reflections in some ponds between Deep Lake and Cultus Lake.
A view of Bird Mountain from the trail
Back onto the Indian Heaven Trail, we backtracked to the Indian Heaven-Lemei Lake junction, and turned left onto the Lemei Lake Trail.
A bit of fall colors
Big meadows along the Lemei Lake Trail
The trail meandered through numerous, large meadows, which looked beautiful in the late evening light
Lemei Lake
Frosty trail, just on the south side of Lemei Lake.
Frosty trail, from above
A great view of Lemei Rock from one of the meadows south of Lemei Lake
Some remaining fall color along the trail. Will have to return someday to see them at peak!
Some fall color in the last remaining light at dusk
Hiked back to the trailhead in the dark, and about an hour in, heard a Barred Owl in the night.
GPS track and guide for this loop: https://myhikes.org/trails/indian-heave ... ater-trail
Alternate GPS Track DL:
Bear Lake-Lemei Lake, Deep Lake Loop (via East Crater th) 2018-10-13 07-43pm.gpx- (107.94 KiB) Downloaded 122 times