We have been enjoying the final days of summer with high Cascades hikes, mostly in the Indian Heaven Wilderness. We hiked an annual favorite, the Sawtooth Mountain Loop at the north end of the Indian Heaven Wilderness.
Starting at the PCT trailhead on FR 24, we hiked 6.5 miles with 981 feet of elevation gain over Sawtooth Mountain with a return on the PCT. We met three thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail but otherwise had the wilderness to ourselves.
I also found a new pika colony in a large boulder field below the Sawtooth Mountain Trail where we heard some pika calls.
Rain the day before brought some mushrooms popping out of the forest floor. A few late flowers still were blooming, but mostly we saw fruits of native plants and fungi.
Beware that the roughly 5 miles of unpaved FR 30 beyond the Lone Butte Sno Park is extremely rough and full of potholes. We were late arriving at the trailhead due to the need to drive slowly.
An alternate access mostly on pavement is a longer drive from the Vancouver area, going through Trout Lake and taking FR 88 up to Big Tire Junction, then veering northwest of FR 8851 to loop around Big Mosquito Lake and then south on FR 24 to the trailhead.
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