Snagged a Summer day that snuck into Fall. Temps around 60-70s, blue sky, no smoke, and first half of the trail ablaze with fall color. Prime opportunity to take in a slice of Indian Heaven without the fear of the legendary mosquitoes that usually plague in spring/summer proper.
Road is bumpy and washboard-y going to Coltus Creek Campground, but completely doable by sedan.
Indian Heaven in total encompasses more than what is portrayed here, but the loop I did took in a fair bit. Easy to pull up on something like AllTrails where you can trace out (search Bird Mountain) or consult Craig Romano book “Backpacking Washington”. Path was :
Start Coltus Creek Campground, Indian Heaven Trail #33 start going south/clockwise --> Deep Lake (short detour) --> Cultus Lake --> Lemei Lake Trail #179 --> Lemei Lake --> Junction Lake --> loop back PCT trail going north --> turn right/east going onto Coltus Creek Trail #108 at junction with PCT --> End Coltus Creek Campground
11ish miles and 2000ish ft gain
Pops of color everywhere on the first half of the loop going down to very pretty Junction Lake. There’s no high alpine terrain here, mostly a forest walk on level terrain that is only steep for short whiles at the very beginning/end of the loop. Before heading north on the PCT for the other half of the loop, I putzed down a bit more south on the PCT to see if there was a view out of forest for the East Crater, but turned back after the forest wouldn’t part, so I didn’t go down as far south to hit Blue Lake. Heading north on the PCT from Junction Lake was pretty viewless with no color, but did have lakes (Bear Lake and Deer Lake) down below the PCT, of which I didn’t venture on down. First time near Bird Mountain and note that you don’t seem to go to the “summit” of Bird Mountain, rather just circle around it.
Good amount of people enjoying the day with a lot more geared up for backpacking overnight vs. just day hiking. Some trail runners.
1010 AM : Start (Coltus Creek Campground: Indian Heaven Trail #33)
1105 : Deep Lake
1140 : Lemei Lake
1210 : Junction Lake
105 : Bear Lake
115 : Deer Lake
155 : Coltus Creek Trail #108 / PCT Junction
235 : End
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