August 2012: The Indian Heaven Wilderness area within the Forest is supposed to be a legendary mountain huckleberry spot. I was too early on another trip to the area earlier in the summer, but hoped to be right on time this visit.
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View of Mt. St. Helens on way up to campground.
Cultus Creek Campground. I do not know if this is meant to be a humanoid or bear-like ranger figure but it is still charming.
Camping spot. This was my first solo camping trip and I was very relieved I was able to successfully set up the tent. I had some doubts. My little campsite overlooked the creek; very adorable.
I'd made a brief trip to the area earlier in the month when I was down south for a class in Portland. On that first visit, I'd picked up an info packet at the ranger station. It included an article about a 10-mile hike through the Indian Heaven Wilderness. Ten miles is more than I normally do, and I haven't really done much back country type stuff. But I'd like to start so I decided to give it a shot.
It starts on the Indian Heaven Trail, which takes a quick ascent up around Bird Mountain.
Lots of sickletop lousewort in the area.
Lots of wild strawberry too.
Spot the toad. (Western toad - Bufo boreas)
Fortunately you get most of the uphill out of the way early on this hike. After about a mile or so, came out of the forest to find some huckleberry bushes with ripe huckleberries (everything in the canopy still not ripe)...
...and a really amazing view.
After the ascent, lots of meadows...
...with lots of lupine
Also many little creeks and lakes...
Indian paintbrush
...more lakes...
After the meadow-y part of the hike, you take a leg of the Pacific Crest Trail. Not the most interesting section - the article notes it's "a mostly monotonous hike through the forest." By coincidence, I was hiking it the day after finishing "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed, about her experience hiking the PCT thru CA and OR.
Some areas still had thick slabs of ice on the ground, which surprised me.
Avalanche lily (Erythronium montanum)
After the PCT, you take the Cultus Creek Trail back down to the campground.
Some great views on this trail as well.
Some familiar and new-to-me plants from around the campsite: I believe this is arrow-leaved groundsel (Senecio triangularis).
I think this is tall bluebell (Mertensia paniculata)
A look inside the bluebell
Instagrammed lupine
Lupine pods
Cow parsnip
Cow parsnip from below
Red columbine (Aquilegia formosa - Buttercup family)
A look inside the columbine
A look inside a penstemon.
Think this is Indian hellebore (Veratrum viride, lily family). Pojar says it is "one of the most violently poisonous plants on the NW Coast." All the little black dots were dead bugs. Doubt that it's related, but still sort of macabre, considering. Per Wikipedia, "The plant was used by some tribes to elect a new leader. All the candidates would eat the root, and the last to start vomiting would become the new leader." Honestly this sounds more appealing and dignified than our current election process.
Probably false bugbane (Trautvetteria caroliniensis - Buttercup family)
Final morning was all about huckleberries. I hadn't seen many on my hike, so thought I'd gotten skunked again, but headed back out towards the Sawtooth Berry Fields to see what was what there.
I should have had more faith; when I got to them I saw that the Sawtooth Berry Fields are some serious berry action. It was almost a little crazy-making. I mean you could just keep picking and picking and picking for what felt like forever. (Or until you limited out, which, for personal use, is three gallons which is a LOT of huckleberries.) Here's some info from a Forest Service brochure on the berry area: "Thousands of years ago, uncontrolled wildfires created openings in the vast forest. Huckleberries prospered in the sunlight caused by these natural openings. For countless years, repeated fires caused by lightning or set by Indians killed the invading trees and brush. But the forest is constantly trying to reclaim its lost territory. If it were not for fire, the berry fields of today would have long since been reclaimed by the forest. Today,scientists are trying to determine the best method of maintaining huckleberries as a valuable forest resource."
Also from the brochure: "For thousands of years, American Indians spent summer and fall high in the mountains hunting, fishing, picking berries, and celebrating the plentiful gifts of the land. Once every few years, they burned the berry fields after harvest, to kill invading trees and to insure healthy fields the following year. The Indians in this area regard the rituals of picking, preserving, and eating berries as a cultural and traditional use with religious significance. An area in the Sawtooth Berry Fields was reserved in 1932 by a handshake agreement between Yakama Indian Chief William Yallup and Gifford Pinchot National Forest Supervisor J.R. Bruckart for use by Indians. By understanding the historical significance of this area, we hope you pay close attention to the signs indicating the areas reserved for use by the Indians. By doing so, you are respecting the culture of another people."
Of all the berries processed during berrymania this year, these mountain huckleberries definitely made my house smell the most amazing.