One Night Wilderness: Portland. Douglas Lorain

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СКАЧАТЬ Trail on Cowlitz Divide, Mount Rainier National Park

      The trail’s next section is wildly scenic as it descends to a saddle, and then goes up and down (mostly up), never straying far from the top of Cowlitz Divide. The route is a mix of meadows and partial forest with frequent views that continue to improve as you get closer to the park’s massive, glacier-clad centerpiece. Wildlife is common in this area. Look for black bears, elk, deer, and a variety of mountain birds. At 6.1 miles you come to the top of a knoll where the views of Mt. Rainier are absolutely spectacular. With wildflowers in the foreground and trees framing the scene, this is one of the author’s favorite spots to photograph the mountain. You can also look south to distant Mt. Adams. From the knoll, the trail makes a moderately steep descent, following a ridgeline to the northwest for 0.4 mile before leveling out in a rolling meadow.

      If you are headed for Cowlitz Park, leave the trail at this meadow and go left (almost due west) through mostly open, rolling terrain. The hiking isn’t overly difficult, but as with all cross-country travel, your progress will be slower and more challenging than it was on trail. You soon cross two small creeks, and then ascend rather steeply on a mostly rocky slope before passing on the south side of a small knoll. Continue west, now on more level terrain, and make your way gradually uphill, going west-southwest for another 0.5 mile until you reach the drainage of Basalt Creek in the lower reaches of Cowlitz Park. On your left is a steep cliff over which creeks tumble in long drops. The most impressive of these cataracts is Trixie Falls on a small side stream feeding into Basalt Creek. Some of the best camps (there are no official or established sites in this off-trail zone) are along the lower reaches of the creek well above the cliffs. As always, choose a site well away from water and with a hard surface to avoid damaging the fragile alpine vegetation. You should expect to spend considerable time looking for a suitable site. It is worthwhile to explore the upper reaches of Cowlitz Park to enjoy its fine views of Mt. Rainier and plentiful wildflowers.

      If you have a permit to stay at Indian Bar, continue on the Wonderland Trail from the meadow where the Cowlitz Park route took off, and go downhill at a moderately steep grade until you come to the south end of Indian Bar. Just before the trail crosses the Ohanapecosh River, which here is only a creek, a trail goes left to a picturesque stone shelter. Camping here is generally restricted to groups of six or more people. The main trail crosses the “river” just above where the water plunges over thunderous Wauhaukaupauken Falls. Unfortunately it is almost as hard to get a good look at this falls as it is to spell the name. Immediately after the crossing, a signed trail goes to the right on its way to the designated campsites of Indian Bar.

      After setting up camp, take the time to do a bit of exploring. At a minimum, walk up the Wonderland Trail across the lovely and amazingly flat expanse of Indian Bar, with its waving grasses, gravel beds, and acres of wildflowers. The surrounding cliffs and ridges that enclose the basin host several impressive but unnamed waterfalls on small creeks that drain from the permanent snowfields and small glacier above. If you have the energy for a longer adventure, continue on the Wonderland Trail as it ascends a ridge above the green expanse of Ohanapecosh Park, and then climbs over rocks and semipermanent snowfields to the views from Panhandle Gap, 3 miles from Indian Bar. Keep an eye out for wildlife, since Panhandle Gap is one of the better places in the park to see mountain goats.

      WARNING

      Although the route to Panhandle Gap is very scenic, the way is often covered with snow and difficult to follow before about mid-August.

      7 Dumbbell and Sand Lakes Loop

RATINGS		Scenery 6 Difficulty 5 Solitude 6
ROUND-TRIP DISTANCE		11.3 miles
ELEVATION GAIN		1550 feet
OPTIONAL MAP		Green Trails: White Pass
USUALLY OPEN		Mid-July to October
BEST TIMES		Late August to early September and early to mid-October
AGENCY		Naches Ranger District (Wenatchee National Forest)
PERMIT		None. Northwest Forest Pass required.

      

      Highlights

      The southern William O. Douglas Wilderness is a relatively gentle landscape of countless lakes, wonderful meadows, and attractive forests. Perhaps the area’s most outstanding feature, however, becomes evident only from very late September through mid-October, when the millions of huckleberry bushes lining this area’s lakes and meadows turn bright orange and red, putting on one of the better fall-color displays in our region. Fortuitously, this is also a time when crowds are few and the mosquitoes, which can be voracious in July and early August, are nearly gone. Late August to early September is also a nice time to visit, since the lakes are reasonably warm for swimming and you can feast on all those ripe huckleberries.

      Getting There

      Leave Interstate 5 north of Vancouver, Washington, at Exit 68 and travel 85 miles east on U.S. Highway 12 to White Pass. Continue east another 2.1 miles, then turn left into the signed DOG LAKE CAMPGROUND. The unpaved campground loop road passes the signed trailhead on the right after just 0.1 mile.

      Hiking It

      The trail starts in a relatively open mid-elevation forest of mixed conifers with plenty of huckleberries, fireweed, grouse whortleberries, and numerous other low-growing flowers and shrubs scattered about on the forest floor. After just 0.1 mile of uphill, the trail forks at the start of the loop.

      Bear right onto the Cramer Lake Trail and follow this wide, horse-pounded path as it traces a very gentle course for 1.2 miles to a camp immediately before a bridgeless crossing of North Fork Clear Creek. There is usually a log you can scoot across here, but if that is missing, the creek crossing is an easy calf-deep ford.

      After crossing the creek, the trail makes a gradual uphill traverse of a mostly forested hillside, and then turns north and wanders gently uphill to Cramer Lake at 3.2 miles. The trail stays in the forest, so far back from this good-sized and attractive lake that it is easy to walk right past it without noticing. The lake is worth a visit, however, so watch carefully and follow any of several sketchy trails that branch to the right and lead to this forest-rimmed gem. The lake has a fine campsite at its northwest end.

      Just beyond Cramer Lake is a junction at the southeast corner of a lush grassy meadow. Watch for deer and elk here, especially early in the morning. This meadow is only the first of several forest-rimmed meadows you will visit over the next few miles. All of these meadows feature plenty of wildflowers in mid- to late July and bright red and orange huckleberry bushes in early October. Keep straight at the junction and walk around the southwest side of the small meadow, coming to a second junction immediately after you cross a tiny creek. Turn left and climb a little more before catching a glimpse of large Dumbbell Lake. Unfortunately, this glimpse is all you will see of this scenic lake for some time as the trail stays in forest well back from the lake, instead passing СКАЧАТЬ