Indian Heaven Wilderness

Out with the girls! I finally got to take my twin sister Kayla and my best friend growing up, Breanna out on a trip with me. I was so excited to have the privilege of their company as I checked out the beautiful Indian Heaven Wilderness in SW Washington. I got to be the girls’ guide on their first-ever backpacking trip and share the experience with two of my favorite ladies in the entire world! I pushed them hard but they responded wonderfully and hopefully they will have a lifetime love of the wilderness for the rest of their lives. Some of the most powerful, life-altering moments of my existence have been out backpacking and I hope they will have a passion for exploring just like I do.

We took off on a Saturday afternoon towards Cascade Locks and paid the toll to go over the Bridge of the Gods. Bre was very kind to drive her spacious Pathfinder all the way there, probably the most comfortable ride I’ve ever taken to a trailhead! We passed through the little town of Carson, which was busy with people on the streets getting ready for some kind of parade and eventually parked at Cultus Lake trailhead, a busy car camping scene with a little sign for Indian Heaven at the end of the lot. Full of anticipation, we took off with a steep start to climb into the high country. The girls didn’t have much time to warm up before we were trudging, sweaty, and working hard how backpackers do. I told them “backpacking isn’t about fun, it’s about blood….sweat….tears….and endurance!” (Of course I was kidding- somewhat). They may have been worn out by the time we reached our first view-point, but got a second wind as the mosquitos began to make themselves known. From our vantage, we could see Sawtooth Mountain, Mt. Rainier, Goat Rocks and Mt. Adams from left to right, with Adams in the forefront. After that, the terrain began to level out and the rest of the trip had minimal elevation change. Passing lake after lake, and stopping at some to cool off or take breaks, we made our way to Blue Lake. Leading the girls- I must have taken a wrong turn near Junction Lake and took them on an off-trail adventure around a butte and through several open, grassy meadows with many water trenches or old, unmaintained trails. I whipped out the compass and decided we should just shoot a bearing and head South. We finally came to a sign on a tree that listed the way we came from as “unmaintained” and pointed us in the right direction to Blue Lake. It wasn’t the best choice to go there, but who was to know it was a popular lake for family camping and all of the designated sites were filled? We dropped our packs and I went on a search for somewhere to camp. I had pushed the girls several miles past where I had originally planned for the first day and it was definitely time to rest. I wandered around several smaller pond-like lakes behind big, deep Blue Lake and eventually came across an unoccupied camp, down a steep rocky trail, probably unknown to most of the weekend warriors. I quickly jaunted back and we rushed back to get my pack and the girls and we hurried to claim the spot I’d found for us. It was perfect. Deep in the woods, far enough from the rest of the people that we couldn’t hear a thing. We had a great fire that night and made teriaki noodles with chicken for dinner. I’m getting better and better at thinking up one-pot meals to impress my friends. Unfortunately Bre wasn’t feeling too well, probably because of dehydration and had a migraine for the evening. She was a trooper and tried to enjoy her night as we slept out in the open air. The following day, we planned to hike about 5 miles to Wood Lake, but when we stopped at Bear Lake, right off of the PCT, we just had to stay. We found such a great campsite on the end of a little forested “peninsula” with a little sandy beach on it that we decided to spend the day swimming, sun bathing, making an improvised fishing pole, and playing cards and dice games. Surprisingly, we had the huge lake all to ourselves. The last day was an easy  2 mile climb up to a low pass and was mostly downhill after that for another 2 miles. Birds in camp woke us up early (about 63o am) and we got on the trail by 730, ending our trek early in the afternoon and leaving plenty of time for picking huckleberries on the way out and for a nice stop off at a restaurant in Cascade Locks.

Indian Heaven is the best place I can imagine to take someone for their first backpacking trip. The trails are gentle and well-maintained, huckleberries rim every lake, and the features are endless. You cannot walk half a mile without coming across a stunning lake, a great view, or a beautiful sub-alpine meadow. I can’t wait to go there again or to take my girlfriends out more!