Hiking the Cascades in September

On a beautiful September day in the middle of the week (Wed.) Tasha and I did a 6-mile loop hike in the Indian Heaven Wilderness near Mt. Adams (12,300 ft., 3750 meters). The hike was a bit strenuous since it involved an elevation gain of about 1000 ft. right at the beginning as we left Cultus Campground at 4000 ft. (Both of us are pictured when our loop trip joined the Pacific Crest Trail.)

Most of the Indian Heaven Wilderness is dotted with lakes, meadows and wildflowers at an elevation of about 5000 ft. One would normally consider Sept. 21st as the beginning of fall; however, due to the late snowpack in the Cascade Range, the mountains are a bit confused; they think it's spring -- with all the wildflowers! As we hiked, we saw lots of Lupine and Indian Paint Brush as well. We had a number of fine views of Mt. Adams to the east while on our hike -- also a glimpse or two of Mt. St. Helens which still retains winter snow near the top in spite of being this late in the season. (I did have to take a picture when we got to the one snowbank that was still blocking the Pacific Crest Trail.) We arrived back at the car at about 3:30 p.m. and drove 1 1/2 hours to Hood River where we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Overall, it was a nice hike even though we were both tired when we got back to the car (the 1250 ft. descent was steep at times and tough on the knees!)

When the Lewis & Clark expedition first spotted Mt. Adams they mistakenly confused it with Mt. St. Helens which had already been named. As a result, Mt. Adams, named after our second U.S. president, got its name in about 1840 by a a guy who was determined to name Cascade peaks after U.S. presidents. (Mt. Hood had been named by the Brits in about 1792). - rw