TROUT LAKE — It’s the Fourth of July — and yet Labor Day weekend will be here before we know it. Summers have a way of passing so quickly in the Northwest.
It seems like there is the leisure of two whole months to have fun hiking, camping or just tooling around in the backcountry and then suddenly the start of school is near and the season is ending.
So, after extensive discussion and debate among The Columbian’s outdoors staff, here is this summer’s list of suggestions for activities to try in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest:
1) Sit along Spirit Lake
Harmony Falls trail No. 224 is the only spot where a forest visitors legally can get to the edge of famed Spirit Lake on the north side of Mount St. Helens.
The trail is only 1.2 miles long, but it drops 600 feet in elevation from the trailhead to the lake. The trailhead is 4,100 feet in elevation and the lake is at 3,500 feet.
A massive mat of logs drift with the wind on the surface of the lake.
Although the hike is short, the drive to Harmony Falls trailhead is long.
From Pine Creek Information Center on Gifford Pinchot road No. 90 at the upper end of Swift Reservoir, take road No. 25 for 25 miles to the junction with road No. 99.
At the junction, turn left on road No. 99 towards Windy Ridge viewpoint. It’s approximately 13.5 miles to the Harmony Viewpoint and trailhead.
From Vancouver, this is an almost three-hour drive.
A recreation pass is required to park at Harmony Falls viewpoint and trailhead. A national forest day pass costs $5. An annual Northwest Forest Pass costs $30. Day passes are sold at several spots along road No. 99.
Road No. 99 has lots to see, including Windy Ridge viewpoint, Meta Lake and the Forest Service’s new information station at Cascade Peaks.
2) Hike to an viewpoint
Boundary trail No. 1 starts at Council Lake campground and climbs an old road grade for about 1.3 miles to Council Bluff trail No. 117, which leads 0.3 mile to the summit of Council Bluff. The final 0.3 mile gains 500 feet elevation, so it’s steep.
The view of Mount Adams to the east is superb and Council Lake is an azure gem below. This is a former fire lookout location. There’s often a fine display of wildflowers on the sunny, open slopes of Council Bluff.
There’s a small number of camping spots available at the former Council Lake campground site. The Forest Service no longer includes Council Lake on its official campground list.
No fee is charged for camping, if you can find a spot.
Council Lake is stocked with trout by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
This, too, is a long drive, a bit shy of three hours.
From the Chevron station in Trout Lake, follow Pinchot road No. 23 for 21.5 miles to the junction with road No. 90. Stay on road No. 23 for 3.1 miles to the junction with road No. 2334, then take No. 2334 for 1.2 miles to a right turn up the hill to Council Lake.
3) View the big waterfalls
There are four big waterfalls on the upper North Fork of the Lewis River, although they are quite a bit less majestic with the extreme low flows of this summer.
Lewis River trail No. 31 between Lower Falls campground and its junction with Quartz Creek trail No. 5 near road No. 90 is 3.1 miles. Hike it upstream and you’ll see Lower Falls immediately. Continue upstream and you’ll pass Middle, Upper and Taidanapam falls.
From the Pine Creek Information Center, follow road No. 90 for 15 miles to the well-marked entrance to Lower Falls Recreation Area.
A recreation pass is needed to park at the Lewis River No. 31 trailhead.
The campground has 43 sites, costs $15 a night and tends to stay cool during hot weather.
4) Pick some huckleberries
Around the first of August at the lower forest elevations, and closer to Labor Day up high, visitors will find the finest of free fruit — the huckleberry.
They may be small, but they are, oh, so tasty. It takes only a few to turn a muffin or a dish of vanilla ice cream into a treat.
Some years the huckleberry crop is dense, some years sparse. Crops have more to do with short-term weather patterns than soil, sunlight or shade. But look around a bit and there are always some to find.
In the Gifford Pinchot, three gallons of huckleberries a year can be picked without needing a commercial permit.
To start, there are the Sawtooth berry fields in the Mount Adams District near Indian Heaven Wilderness. A portion of the Sawtooth fields are reserved for Indians only.
Panther Creek road No. 65 west of Indian Heaven Wilderness often has plentiful berries in the forest clearcuts.
