Pear Loop — Friday, Aug. 30, 2013

South Cascades

We hiked in from the Deep Creek Horse Camp trail head on Indian Creek trail. The weather was perfect, and the conditions were great. Some mud, some erosion of the trail in areas, a few blow downs, but nothing that would dampen the enjoyment of the hike. Wild blueberries are ripe and can be found along the trail just past Blankenship Meadow. We saw plenty of bear scat full of berries, so obviously the bears have been enjoying berry season. We did not see much wildlife during this hike. We saw a few people while we were hiking, but it was very quiet with not a lot of traffic. Considering it was labor day weekend, and opening day for bow hunting, I was surprised how few people we saw. No mosquitos to speak of which is unusual in this area. Last year we were nearly eaten alive in Blakenship Meadow, but not this year. We went last year in mid July and it was a real mess with mud and still lots of snow, this year we planned it much later and it was perfect. The road to the trailhead is now open, which was a pleasant surprise. No road hike!! The road had been closed since a flood in 2007 washed out a portion of the road, but it is fixed and opened the day before our hike.