We love this place so much that we returned to Bird Creek Meadows for our third hike while it is open during 2023.
We started this hike at Bird Lake, paying our $20 per car fee at the permit box near the lake outlet. We hiked up the Bird Lake Trail, crossing Bird Creek and Crooked Creek and passing Crooked Creek Falls to reach the Round the Mountain Trail in 1.5 miles.
We turned west on the Round the Mountain Trail and stopped for lunch at a shady place we call Dipper Falls because we nearly always see a Dipper in this stream. (A Dipper flew downstream while we were eating lunch.)
After lunch we continued west on the Round the Mountain Trail to the Yakama Nation boundary in another 0.5 mile. Several people in our group wanted to see the Aiken Lava Bed, so we continued hiking west onto the Gifford Pinchot National Forest for another 0.5 mile.
We stopped at a viewpoint where the trail begins its climb across the lava. My dog said it was too hot for her; I could feel the heat radiating off the lava next to the trail onto my legs. She found a cool place in the shade while we enjoyed the view and listened to pikas giving their short calls.
Then we turned around and returned the way we came, after debating taking the Bluff Lake Trail to make a loop. Checking the time and realizing it would add another hour to our return hike, we decided to return down the Bird Lake Trail since we had a long drive home and wanted to stop for dinner.
We stopped often during our hike to admire the wildflowers at each of the streams. The heat this past week (over 100 degrees for 4 days in a row and new records set for high overnight low temperatures in the 70s in Portland) had tipped the Lewis's Monkeyflowers past their peak bloom. Most flowers in the dry meadows were done blooming and it appeared that the lupine had not attempted to bloom at all before drying out.
The Cascade Bilberrys have started to ripen so we stopped several times to pick and eat berries. We also kept a group bird list on eBird. Many ways to enjoy a hike.
On the drive home, we stopped for dinner at the dog-friendly Mount Adams Pizza in Trout Lake.
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