Cultus Creek trail to Clear Lake Date: 9/02/01

Couple weeks late, but I did this hike with some old friends during my visit to White Salmon. I was down there to do some squawfishing...you can make money by turning in squawfish 9 inches or over. They prey on juvenile salmon. I used to worked on the project years ago.

Anyway, the trail is in excellent condition. Not much in the way of views for the first 1 mile or so. After that it opens up and you get some good views of goatrocks, mount adams, rainier, etc.

We first went to Cultus lake. After that, we took a half mile spur to Deep Lake...a much nicer lake in my opinion! Oh, cultus means ""bad"" in Indian. Indians would not camp at Cultus because they believe a family of bigfoots lived there. I happen to be a believer of Sasquatch. A friend saw one over by the Klickitat river in June and I knew a few others who've seen the beast as well.

Finally, we continued on to Clear Lake. The blueberries were out full force!

Oh, warning: camping is restricted at Blue and at a nearby lake (can't remember name but real close by). Only two designated camps at Blue and one at the other lake and you need to pitch tent within 20 feet of the damn pole (""tent""). My old friend went backpacking in this area weekend after we did this hike. They were disappointed (Blue filled) and thus hiked to a lake off trail.

RT to Clear lake was roughly 5.5 miles or so and about 1300 feet plus or minus.

Happy Hiking!

John M.