ALERT: AS OF 9/3/17 All OF THE INDIAN HEAVEN WILDERNESS IS CLOSED DUE TO A WILDFIRE (NOW BEING CALLED THE EAST CRATER FIRE) THAT HAS GROWN TO COVER AT LEAST 1,000 ACRES. THIS INCLUDES A 10 MILE STRETCH OF THE PCT. FOR THE MOST UP TO DATE INFORMATION VISIT THE FOREST SERVICE INCIDENT PAGE HERE.

A group of friends and I started what was intended to be a three night backpacking trip in the Indian Heaven Wilderness area on Friday, September 1. We started our trip from where the PCT intersects NF-24 and hiked to Bear and Elk Lakes on our first day. We passed many PCT through hikers on the way there. We found a great group spot on Friday night at Bear Lake and spent the night there. Bear Lake was pretty, quiet, and perfect for floating and swimming.

The next day, Saturday, September 2, we continued to Blue Lake, passing Junction Lake, and found all of the campsites at Blue Lake already taken. Not surprising given the holiday weekend. We found a flat spot in a grassy area about ½ mile up from Blue Lake along the Thomas Lake trail at what we think was Umtux Lake. The spot had plenty of room for three tents, plus some, and was surrounded by wild blueberry bushes. Concerned that we wouldn’t find a better spot, we staked out our tents and left our overnight gear there. We took a quick day hike down to Thomas and Eunice Lakes. On our way there we saw dozens of groups hiking in from the Thomas Lake trailhead, so we were glad we found a campsite when we did. We enjoyed lunch at Thomas Lake and then made the climb back up to our campsite.

In the afternoon, we decided to walk back down to Blue Lake to cool off. The temperature was in the 90s, so we all took a dip and floated on the rafts we packed in. The lake was bustling with other people swimming, fishing and floating.

On Sunday morning we woke up around 8:30 AM and intended to have another leisurely day hiking to Lake Wapiki. While cooking breakfast we noticed nearby smoke. Initially we thought it was a large campfire, but the smoke turned black and the plume continued to grow in size. We were concerned and packed up immediately. At this point we decided it was best to cut the trip short and leave the area as soon as possible. The fire was to the north and slightly east, which was the way we had to hike out to get back to our cars. We started hiking that way until we were almost past Blue Lake and spoke to another hiker who had taken a bearing on the location of the fire and assessed that it was at Junction Lake and possibly very close to the trail.

Concerned that we would be walking directly into the direction of the fire, we did an about-face and hiked away from the fire toward the Thomas Lake trailhead, which we knew would be safe. We had the incredible good fortune of running into friends on the trail who shuttled two from our group back to our cars that were parked at Cultus Creek Campground and the PCT/NF-24 intersection. The whole shuttle process took about two hours, which was much shorter than we anticipated. In that time, three of us sat and waited at the trailhead for the drivers to return. We saw a Forest Service Hotshot Crew arrive who closed the trail and geared up to evacuate the area. They hiked in with helmets, axes, chainsaws – pretty incredible to watch.

By the time we were leaving the area, the plume from the fire was enormous. I had never seen a wildfire up close like that; it was jarring. The Hotshot Crew told us it had grown to cover about 500 acres. We learned from other hikers exiting the trail that it had indeed come extremely close to the PCT. Some people told us that they were walking as little as 50 feet away from visible flames. We were all so thankful to have made the decision to steer clear of the fires despite knowing that we were heading in the opposite direction of our cars. We also couldn’t be more thankful to the Forest Service workers who responded in a matter of hours after the fire started.

The entire Indian Heaven Wilderness area is now closed and likely will be for some time. Such a shame that this area will not be the same for many years to come.

Beautiful scenery, pleasant day, but do not attempt this hike without a beekeeper's suit because the mosquitoes are so bad that if you stop for 10 seconds they will swarm by the thousands. If you even think about slowing down they might swarm anyway. They do not care about your 99.7% DEET spray, and will still bite through thin clothing. 

There re are a few areas of snow but nothing difficult to navigate, and quite a few trees still down over the trail, especially between the Thomas lake trailhead and blue lake, and on the PCT north of Junction Lake.

Indian Heaven is one of my favorite areas to hike and backpack, so I've been "stalking" the status of it for the past couple months. Needless to say, I was quite happy when I saw the Thomas Lake Trailhead status change to reachable last week.

Road NF-65 has a fairly decent washout on it, so take Wind River to NF-6507 to NF-65 to avoid it (check the Forest Service site for current status on it).

While it is indeed snow-free up to the trailhead, (as of 6/18) you immediately run into patches of snow and in less than a 1/4 mile it becomes completely snow covered. I ran into a couple that turned around here as they couldn't find the trail, which is definitely a smart move if you aren't familiar with the area. As evidenced in the previous trip report, this is not an area you want to take unnecessary risks in as it can be easy to get lost even in good conditions if you're not prepared.

The pup and I post-holed it out Thomas Lake and the immediate smaller surrounding ones, which was easy enough, but the snow looked to get deeper on the trail out to Blue Lake so we called it quits here. I wanted more mileage, so we backtracked it Mcclellan Meadows trail to get in a few more miles in much warmer conditions.

Another week or two of sun, and I suspect this area will be completely snow free.

I really wanted to explore the Indian Heaven Wilderness, but it's so far from my home in Everett that I decided to make it an overnight. We also stopped off to see the beautiful Lower Lewis River Falls on the way. :) Took FS 6507 off of Meadow Creek Road - other than one ginormous gully about 2/3rds of the way, the road was in amazing shape. Parked at Thomas Lake Trailhead, and immediately was overwhelmed with ripe berries right along the trail - blueberries and huckleberries! I picked about 3 cups on the way out, and #BakertheTrailDog figured out how to eat berries right off the bushes! I've never seen so many little lakes in a row - they were quite lovely, and apparently full of fish: we passed a fellow Hike-a-Thoner on his way out with a couple of good-sized trout! The trail was in great shape, and we only passed a few people. If you're looking for a peaceful wilderness experience, though, I'd recommend camping in one of the many meadows between Rock Lake and Sahalee Tyee. Blue Lake was quite busy and noisy. We took a stroll up the PCT after dinner to the East Crater. That was very peaceful. My pup is still young and can't go too far, so instead of hiking down the PCT to Indian Racetrack and back the next day, we hiked out to the trailhead and drove about 2 miles down FS 65 to the Indian Racetrack trailhead. However, that was still too much for my dog, so we only ended up going about 1/2 mile before having to turn around. Indian Racetrack, I'll be back to see you some day!!!