Bird Mt. Loop, Indian Heaven, 092120

[adamschneider]

the worst thing about Indian Heaven is there's a lot of forest, not so good views like on Mt Adams, Goat Rocks, Mt Hood...

It has a different appeal. Something about lakes and meadows and berries.

And the high points (Lemei Rock, Bird Mountain, etc.) do have nice views... but most of them require some bushwhacking.

[retired jerry]

huckleberries would be a good reason to go there

[teachpdx]

the worst thing about Indian Heaven is there's a lot of forest, not so good views like on Mt Adams, Goat Rocks, Mt Hood...

It's really great this time of year, especially if it's kinda dreary and rainy and you want a cozy backpacking destination for a couple nights at the same spot. So many day hike loops and off-trail opportunities! All of the mozzies are dead by now, but earlier in the season they can be fierce! I'll be spending a couple of nights out there, probably at Bear Lake, in early October.

I will not hike IH before August... it's just an unspoken rule of mine. I can suffer through just about any terrible backcountry situation, except for mozzies and flies. Bugs (and wildfires, I guess) are the only things that will make me return to the car.

[justpeachy]

Fortunately a Forest Service crew had come in and spent 3 days clearing trails. I learned this when I crossed paths with the crew leader that did the clearing when he and another person were lugging in boards to replace a bridge near Thomas Lake. Of course I thanked him more then once for their hard work. The trail would have most likely been impassable without their efforts.

WOW, that sure was fast! I thought it might be awhile before they started clearing all the downfall from that windstorm.

[jab83]

How is the road to Cultus Creek Campground?

[Don Nelsen]

How is the road to Cultus Creek Campground?

It looks like it's been regraded fairly recently but lots of washboard in places. No potholes of note. Easy for even low-clearance.

[drm]

I think damage from the windstorm was very localized - very bad in a few places and not much in most. That allows the trail teams to focus on the few bad places and get them in shape. I have not yet heard of any place in Gifford Pinchot that is like what we heard about for the Timberline near Yocum.

As to early season in Indian Heaven - June can be great! I always try to get one trip in before the bugs get bad. But there is a pretty short window for when the snow isn't too bad any more and the bugs aren't too bad yet. It depends on altitude but for any particular area, it is probably about two weeks long, and it takes some experience to guess right. And it will be muddy in places too.

[AlpenGlowHiker]

I agree with TeachPDX; I don't attempt any Indian Heaven trips until late August, but Sept-Oct is preferred. In fact, this whole post is rather timely, as that is my destination for the weekend.


As far as getting there; has anyone taken Rd 88 -> 8831 -> 24? 88 is paved all the way to 8831, and from there Cultus Creek CG is pretty close.

[BaileyBoy]

My wife and I hiked from Thomas Lake to Rock Lakes, took old trail over to Junction Lake then south on PCT to Blue Lake. We met two hikers who told us there were 3 sections of significant down trees a bit north of Blue Lake. Sure enough there were, quite a jumble with no good way around them.

On the positive side we saw a large deer west of Rock Lakes and a pretty good sized bear about 1/4 mile north of Blue Lake. It came out of the trees within 50 yards of us but never saw us. We remained quite to watch it and after a bit it ambled off to the east.



As mentioned, berries pretty much gone and vegetation was not as bright as I expected but still a beautiful area.

[BaileyBoy]

I forgot to mention we went up on the 20th and Hwy 30 was open at least to Rd 65, the road to Panther Creek CG. Rd 65 was in typical condition with a few fallen trees cleared. There is pretty low spot, slight washout, a few miles from Thomas Lake TH but passenger cars had made it though.