INDIAN RACETRACK
WHERE: From Portland take I 84 to Cascade Locks exit then cross the Columbia river at the Bridge of the Gods. Take highway 14 east to Wind River Road where you veer to the left and keep following the signs for Panther Creek road ( forest service road 65). Its roughly thirty miles from the highway where you will find the trail head across from a campground or you can drive up 1/4 mile to an alternate trailhead.
THE TRAIL: The trailhead is at about 3500 and climbs about 800 feet on the way to Indian Racetrack three miles away. Most of this elevation gain is immediate as you soon reach part of the Indian Heaven Wilderness plateau. The first portion of the hike is full of Pacific Silver Fir, Noble Fir, Western/Mountain Hemlock and Douglas Fir. The trail near the racetrack can be hard to follow when snow is melting (much like many trails in the Indian Heaven Wilderness Area) as the trail tends to become part of a drainage. From here you can hike to Red Mountain Lookout or you can follow trail #171A to meet the Pacific Crest Trail in about a mile. I took the PCT toward Blue Lake which begins with a brief relatively flat hike before darting up about 600 feet in less than a mile to the Berry Mountain Ridge. The hike up to and on top of this ridge has its fair share of beautiful windows to the mountains. The forests shifted to Sub alpine Fir and Mountain Hemlock with one brief interlude of White Bark Pine and Lodgepole pine on a disturbed section just east of the ridge.
As with other trails in the area, snow kept me from Blue Lake even in mid June. As you get to the north side of the ridge and begin the descent into the Blue Lake area the snow reached depths of 2-5 feet everywhere. I bushwhacked in toward the lake a little ways before the time of day forced a retreat lest I become another lost casualty. It is often not until mid July that all the snow in the region melts.
In 2007 I hiked this trail again in early June. Snow could be found along the trail from 3800 feet and up. The trail was followable however Indian Racetrack and all the trail junctions became part of a nearby lake with trail signs in 2 feet of water. I bushwacked around and toward Berry mountain but apparently missed the PCT and the Red Mountain Lookout trail. There was snow over most of the trail at this point but it was still easy to follow. As I got to the lookout the sky turned from blue patches in the distance to dark grey to no visibility and hail within a matter of minutes. The snow really does stick around for a long time. It was amazing watching the storm approach!
Impending hail storm