12 miles of hiking • 2750' elevation gain •
Had my first taste of Indian Heaven yesterday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We started at the Falls Creek Horse Camp TH, and generally followed an abandoned (not on any map) trail through the Lakes Basin. This trail is somewhat overgrown, and gets very spotty around all the little lakes. You just sort of need to follow your nose, so to speak. From the basin, it's a better defined trail (if you can find it) up a steep ridge to the PCT, climbing 500' in a half-mile. Nice way to warm up!
We then took the PCT southbound up to and along Berry Mountain. There were a few nice views of Mounts Adams and Saint Helens along the way, and even an occasional peek at Mount Hood. For a Wilderness without views, they didn't seem all that lacking along this stretch. We turned back west again at the Indian Racetrack cutoff.
At the Wilderness registration kiosk, we'd saw a map that labeled a fire lookout on Red Mountain, and it appeared to be on our general route. As we were descending from Berry Mountain, we saw the lookout ahead, and of course felt compelled to climb one more big hill to visit it! It was, without question, the highlight of the day. The 360° views from there were spectacular. It's about a mile out of the way, with another 800' gain.
After enjoying well over an hour at the lookout, we went back down and explored the Indian Racetrack area a bit, before returning along trail 171 to our starting point. Totally great day in the woods!
