Started hiking up the East Crater trail at about 10am. There was a group of three that started out right behind me and I passed one solo hiker about 10 minutes in, but other than that I didn't see anyone else on the trail for a few hours. Plenty of bugs to keep me company, though!
From the intersection with the PCT at Junction Lake, I took a right turn on the Lemei Lake trail to make a loop trip through Indian Heaven. I passed by Lemei Lake, Clear Lake, Deer Lake, and Bear Lake, plus lots of other little ponds not large enough to be named on the map. I would have continued up the side trail from Bear Lake to Elk Lake too, but the mosquitoes were so thick up there that I figured the 10 mile(ish) round trip I had already committed to would be plenty.
Trail is in great shape: no obstacles other than some muddy patches (mostly on the Lenei Lake trail) and shallow water across the trail in a few places. The snow is almost completely gone; what's left across the trail is really easy to walk on or around. The only real problem I had on this trip was the bugs: any time I stopped moving for longer than about two minutes, a swarm of mosquitoes would converge on me and make any kind of relaxation impossible. Even though insect repellent kept most of them off of my skin, those little suckers were biting my back through my shirt, biting my legs through my pants, and hovering so thick around my face that I'm sure I must have inhaled and/or swallowed quite a few of them.
On the way down to the parking lot, I encountered several small groups making their way uphill. Back at the lot, there were six vehicles and WAY fewer mosquitoes. Though it was beautiful up there in Indian Heaven, I was relieved to be out of the mosquito swarms! Totals: 10.3 miles distance, 1,430 ft elevation, about 5 hours.
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