Little Huckleberry Mountain 9/13/08

[ElphabaNorthWest]

I managed to let my camera run out of batteries, so I don't have any pictures of this hike, but it is such a nice hike and not very well know, so I decided I should post a trip report anyway.

I drove with my dog up forest road 66, which is right at the edge of the the big lava flow in Washington. One side is normal forest and the other is a boulder field of lava, which makes for a scenic drive. We stopped at the Little Huckleberry trailhead and proceeded to climb the 2.5 miles with about 2000 feet of vertical up Little Huckleberry Mountain. The top used to be the site of an old lookout, but now all that is left is the post supports. We had the place to ourselves and never encountered anyone on the trail. We did hear a mushroom hunter singing off in the distance, but other than that there were no people for miles and miles.
Little Huckleberry gets its name from the huckleberry bushes that cover the entire area. On the way up and back down I munched on handfuls of huckleberries and some thimbleberries. I realized my hands were completely stained blue and red when I got back to my car, but all of the sweet berries made the accompanying mess worth while.The trail is in the forest for the first two thirds of the hike. There are huckleberry bushes all along and I saw lots of bear scat that was purple and filled with huckleberries. I also saw tracks of deer and elk along the trail as well, but didn't see an of the animals. I imagine that the clinking of the dogs collar warns them away.
The last third of the trail is in the open and covered in sunburned huckleberry bushes that were loaded with berries. This is where I was able to grab handfuls at a time of very sweet berries. There were a few yellow and purple flowers, but most of the hillside was covered in bushes. When we reached the top, we were treated to spectacular views of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier fairly close up. Mount Adams had only a few small glacier fields left, but Mount Rainiers was still covered with a surprising amount of snow for so late in the season. I saw a hawk swooped down almost within touching distance while I was taking in the view. As I climbed back down I was really regretting that I had left my hiking poles in the car. I haven't had them very long, so I am not in the habit of carrying them yet. We stopped at the Big Lava on the way home and I climbed up a little bit, but not too far, since the lava was not so compatible with dog paws. Another day (with humans and no dogs) it would be fun to spend some time exploring the lava field. This day, however, I had a birthday party to get to, so we headed home after a wonderful hike.

[fettster]

Having recently passed along and over the lava flow by Three Sisters I'm curious to see this one too. I've missed out on the ripe huckleberry action this year, though I at least score some strawberries earlier this season. Is the trail dirt the whole way or are there some rough stretches with chunks from the lava flow?

[ElphabaNorthWest]

Having recently passed along and over the lava flow by Three Sisters I'm curious to see this one too. I've missed out on the ripe huckleberry action this year, though I at least score some strawberries earlier this season. Is the trail dirt the whole way or are there some rough stretches with chunks from the lava flow?

The trail is dirt the entire way. The lava stops on the west side of the road and the trail is east of the road. There are good places to stop and see the lava flow along NF 66, but it is not very close to the trailhead. It is interesting, because trees have managed to grow in spite of the lava. People have told me that compasses don't work well in the flow, so use caution if you decide to do some off trail exploring.

[cfm]

Fettster, Huckleberry season is not over!!!