Today Thea and I ventured up to Indian Heaven for a 9.2 mile 900 ft elevation semi-loop. We started at the East Crater trail head, made our way to Junction lake, then took the Lemei lake, Indian Heaven trail, and PCT around several lakes back to the East Crater trail. We encountered not a soul all day . Some of you may be wondering, "Has the snow melted out?" To which I would respond, "It has melted out enough". It was a mixed bag as far as trail conditions. Parts were perfectly dry, some were muddy, others under feet of snow. The only flowers to be seen at the moment are of course bear grass, tons of glacier lilies, one sprig of lupine, and some shooting star. There were a few more, but of the less recognizable ilk. We had never done this trail before, and even with the trail being lost under snow sometimes for 50 feet or more, there was never any doubt as to the route we were taking. There were gorgeous, soon to be flower packed open meadows and a lot of water melting and running off into pools and streams everywhere. Thus there were numerous fun stream crossings to negotiate, and nary a mosquito in sight....ok maybe a couple. It all made for a very exciting adventure filled hike.
Open meadow
Creek crossing
Thea's final descent to Lemei Lake.
Lemei Lake
"What do you think?" "Pretty sure it's water"
Along the trail
Back at Junction Lake
Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
- AlexanderSupertramp
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Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
Last edited by AlexanderSupertramp on July 7th, 2009, 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- anna in boots
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Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
Love the last two, Adam. Well done!
anna in boots
anna in boots
Current trip reports at All Thoughts Work™ Outdoors
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Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
Even without a major peak that wilderness stands on its own. Perhaps all the mosquitoes gave up on Indian Heaven with nary a soul around. Might explain all the agony reported elsewhere.
I had the pleasure to camp at Junction Lake a couple nights; great shot! Any pics of the shooting stars? That's a favorite flower.
I had the pleasure to camp at Junction Lake a couple nights; great shot! Any pics of the shooting stars? That's a favorite flower.
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
I think it's just a bit early for heavy mosquitoes in central Indian Heaven. Isn't Junction Lake up at 5000'? Snow has just melted. My guess would be that Indian Racetrack and a few other areas are already getting bad.
- AlexanderSupertramp
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- Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
Hey Fettster, Thanks. I did get one shooting star shot. Nothing to write home about, but here it is.fettster wrote:Even without a major peak that wilderness stands on its own. Perhaps all the mosquitoes gave up on Indian Heaven with nary a soul around. Might explain all the agony reported elsewhere.
I had the pleasure to camp at Junction Lake a couple nights; great shot! Any pics of the shooting stars? That's a favorite flower.
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
AlexanderSupertramp wrote: Hey Fettster, Thanks. I did get one shooting star shot. Nothing to write home about, but here it is.
Hey, made my day. What a great name.
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
My daughter is doing trail maintenance work with the Forest Youth Program, last Thursday they did work on the Indian Heaven trail 33 that goes from the Cultus Creek Campground....even WITH bug spray she came home with 20+ bites. So YES it appears to be bad already at the lower elevations.drm wrote:I think it's just a bit early for heavy mosquitoes in central Indian Heaven. Isn't Junction Lake up at 5000'? Snow has just melted. My guess would be that Indian Racetrack and a few other areas are already getting bad.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. ~John Muir
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
On 07/15/09 a friend and I set out to do a loop starting at Trail #111 (Thomas Lake). We heard the mosquitoes were bad, and came prepared with a lot of deet. Words cannot describe the amount of mosquitoes we encountered. To say the least, we were idiots. The deet did save some bites, but my friend and I still came home each with 100+ bites--some of them pretty gnarly. We hiked into Junction Lake to camp, but decided to hike out the same night. We could not take it anymore; It was ridiculous; We were stupid!
Don't make the same mistake we did.
The scenery was amazing; However, the only time I will ever visit this place again is with a bug suit. Or maybe when most of the bugs are frozen.
Don't make the same mistake we did.
The scenery was amazing; However, the only time I will ever visit this place again is with a bug suit. Or maybe when most of the bugs are frozen.
Last edited by slowmo on July 19th, 2009, 10:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
When nature gets focused, it will defeat any technology we come up with, including DEET!slowmo wrote:we were idiots.
Re: Indian Heaven Lake Loop - 07/07/09
My son and I did the same Indian Heaven Lake loop from East Crater Trailhead this past Sunday. Temperatures were very cool which was pleasant for hiking, but we literally climbed into the clouds by the time we arrived at Junction Lake. Standing at water's edge, one could not see more than about 20 feet over the lake. Each lake on the loop was pretty much the same experience. I appreciate your pictures because I could not take any in such conditions, and it is nice to see what the lakes would have looked like in the sunshine that you had. We saw two trail crew workers, and some other folks on the PCT stretch of the loop, but that was all. I was fully prepared for mosquitoes, but we saw next to none. I was actually thinking we should have gone in from Thomas lake instead to have stayed lower, below the clouds, but after reading the recent reports of the bugs, I am glad we did not do that. Hiking Indian Heaven was a goal for me this year since I had never been there, so at least I can cross that goal off the list.