Stairway to Heaven - Washington Trails Association

Northwest ExplorerAlan L. BauerThe 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 HeavenClear lakes, huckleberries and easy trails make Indian Heaven a delightBy Joan BurtonThe road to heaven isn’t an easy one,but the road to Indian Heaven may beeven harder.The Indian Heaven Wilderness is ahigh volcanic plateau located betweenMount Adams and Mount St. Helens.Though it’s a federally designated wildernessarea within the Gifford PinchotNational Forest, it’s not easy to find. Accessroads snake around the wilderness,as though determined to confuse youand take you everyplace but where youwant to go. Start out with a good roadmap, but also get the Green Trails mapsof the Indian Heaven Wilderness: LoneButte 365, Mount Adams West 366, andWind River 397.Once you have found one of the entrypoints, the terrain, generally at anelevation of 4,000 feet, is made up ofgrassy meadows, shallow lakes, and littlepotholes. These potholes are formerfumaroles—volcanic vents—that havefilled in with warm water. The soil isfilled with volcanic pumice.Between these lakes is an agreeablelandscape, predominantly alpine meadowsand open forest of Douglas, alpineand noble firs. The trunks of the treesare shaggy with lichen, like old men’sbeards, mustaches and eyebrows. Unlikethe North Cascades, where steep jaggedpeaks define the limits of where youcan travel and every trail is filled withsharp stones, Indian Heaven gains andloses elevation gradually on wide dirtpaths. The glaciers never reached thisfar south. Instead, volcanoes shaped thislandscape: eruptions and lava flows builtup this plateau of lakes and meadows.Trees are widely spaced and underbrushis open. The boulders you do find arebasalt, with telltale bubbles to indicatetheir origin.Blueberries and huckleberries arethick in Indian Heaven. Archeologicalevidence indicates that tribes (includingthe Yakama, Klickitat, Wasco, Wishram,and Umatilla) have harvested berrieshere for more than 9,000 years. InAugust you can pick enough for a mealvery quickly. Some of the bushes arefull size, and some in the meadows aredwarf size, as though shrunk in scale.In July, the white torches of bear-grassbloom all along the trails. We saw flocksof camp robbers near our tents, frogs andmergansers in the lakes, and heard thecoyotes singing at night.October 2006WASHINGTON TRAILS

Northwest ExplorerGary RoseAlan L. BauerLeft: Camp at Thomas Lake.Above: Mount Adams and MountRainier from Bird Mountain.Trip EssentialsIndian Heaven LoopThe lakes in some parts of the wildernessare so close together that you canchoose from three or four within a fewsteps. Because they are relatively shallowand the water is clear and clean,swimming is excellent. Because of themoisture, mosquitoes here are alsolegendary; the best time to visit is fromlate August through October.On the west side of the wildernessfrom Forest Road 65, the Thomas Lakeentrance is a good choice because the firstlake is only 0.75 mile from the trailhead.Within 250 feet of Thomas lie Dee,Heather, Eunice and Kwaddis Lakes.Walk on about 3.5 miles to Blue Lake,and within 250 feet lie Sahalee Tyee,Sebago, and Tombstone Lakes.On the east side, the Cultus Creekentrance is easier to find and the trailheadis reached on a more obvious road,FS 24. Climb 700 feet in 1.75 miles toDeep Lake, and Cultus Lake at 2 miles.From the town of Trout Lake on FR60 after about 11 miles, you’ll find theEast Crater trailhead, which leads to ajunction with the Pacific Crest Trail atJunction Lake.To the north, from Indian Berry Fieldson FR 24, you can reach Lake Chenamusand Placid Lake in less than 2 miles.Because the total Wilderness is small,you can walk across the width of it inone day, if you wish. But a better planis to stop at one lake, set up camp, andday hike across the plateau, savoring onelake after another, like cookies. Eachone is delicious, just a little bit differentthan the one before, and you won’t wantto stop until you’ve seen them all. Joan Burton is a WTA member fromSeattle and author of Best Hikes WithKids: Western Washington and Cascades.Hikable: July–OctoberRound trip: 15Elevation gain: 1,800 feetMaps: Green Trails Lone Butte365, Wind River 397To get there: From the town ofTrout Lake, take FR 24 north toCultus Creek CampgroundThe route: Take trail 33 south 2miles to Cultus Lake; continuesouth over a saddle to a junctionwith trail 179; go left, passing LemeiLake; 2.5 miles south of CultusLake, turn right on the PacificCrest Trail, looping back north andpassing Bear Lake; continue onthe PCT north past Deer Lake andthe shoulder of Bird Mountain toa junction; turn right on LemeiLake trail 108 back to Cultus CreekCampground.WASHINGTON TRAILS October 2006