I hiked into The Indian Heaven Wilderness via the Thomas Lake Trail. This trail is a great way to access the Indian Heaven Wilderness. The trail starts at an even grade and the it becomes pretty steep and has some drainage issues. There was a Northwest Service Academy crew working a switchback on this trail. They reinforced the trail and made it usable to Equestrian use (good job!)I got to Naha Lake and was struck by it's beauty. I had to pause for contemplation. I continued to the Pacific Crest trail and went North. This section of PCT is beautiful. The lake at the junction of Thomas lake Trail and PCT is astounding. Going northbound I came to the East Crater Trail and pushed further another quarter mile past it to the Lemei Lake Trail. This trail starts at a very beautiful lake and wraps around it's edge as it climbs up. None of this trail was difficult to tread upon, though, it had drainage issues. I pushed onward until I got to the Indian Heaven Trail. I made a right turn and headed toward the Lemei Trail. This part of the trail had ripe huckleberries and was very pleasing. I passed a couple of hunters and their dogs.
I got to the Lemei Trail and made another right and hiked past a lake on my left and continued to Lemei Rock. It was quite a sight as I crossed a dry creek and looked upon Lemei Rock. I did a scramble to the "summit" of the rock. It was steep but easy to get hooked into some social trails to the top. It is dangerous at points and not recommended for those who are unsure of their capabilities. However, the views from up there are first rate and I would recommend getting up there to anyone with itchy feet! I came out almost the same way I came in, but detoured at Bear Lake and napped on the Peninsula there, until a Bee woke me up. I will take Bees over the Mosquitoes that normally swarm by the billions. Thankfully those blood suckers are almost all gone. All in all it was a remarkable day. I recommend the very same route to you all!

My hike began at the Thomas Lake trail head. I was really excited about this hike. It had been two full years since I had stepped foot in Indian Heaven. I was with a crew of newbies and they didn't realize what they were in for. The Thomas Lake trail offers so much to it's users. It is surprising how few people realize what Indian Heaven has to offer (LAKES!!!!). The trail was recently worked on which made an easy hike even better. We slowly hiked up, and I do mean slowly. This was because of all of the distractions. These distractions included beautiful lakes, huckleberries, and mosquitoes. Don't worry, the mosquitoes are on the way out and spray wasn't even necessary. Indian heaven is such a special place. You put in so little and get out so much. I saw a college orientation out there, a couple of little kids, and smiling faces everywhere I looked. I suggest getting out there as soon as you can. This is the best time of the year to be there. Don't let it slip through your fingers!

Brilliant scarlet and purple huckleberry leaves and scads of juicy, ripe berries highlighted this 9.7-mile loop hike. While other areas of the Cascades are experiencing berry crop failures this year, Indian Heaven is enjoying its usual bounty.

We feasted on berries as we hiked the Thomas Lake Trail to its terminus at Blue Lake (4 miles). The first 2 miles of the trail have seen much work and are in fine shape, with turnpikes and boardwalks over wet areas. Beyond Rock Lake, the trail is very badly eroded at water crossings and in desperate need of some WTA trail crew attention.

At various times, the PCT has had three routes across central Indian Heaven. They can be described as the Old Old PCT, the Old PCT and the modern PCT, which now traverses the west slope of East Crater and misses most of the meadows and tarns that give Indian Heaven its charm. After lunch, we backtracked on the Thomas Lake Trail to its junction with the Old PCT and hiked it about a mile to Junction Lake where we then took an abandoned connector trail to the Grand Meadow. We returned to Rock Lake on the Old Old PCT. Despite being abandoned, these trails get plenty of horse and hiker traffic and the erosion is really bad. I think these trails should be returned to the "system" so they would get some maintenance from either Forest Service crews or WTA volunteers.

From Rock Lake, we returned to our cars at the Thomas Lake trailhead. A glorious, warm, sunny day spent in a very special wilderness: Emily, visiting from New Zealand, said it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.