TROUT LAKE — Just north of Indian Heaven Wilderness, the Pacific Crest Trail cuts through the popular Sawtooth huckleberry fields at about 4,300 feet elevation.
Normally, on Memorial Day weekend, the trail is under 3 feet of snow.
Not this year.
The berryfields are dry. There’s not even a remnant snow patch hiding in the shade of a fir tree. There’s hardly any mosquitoes.
The calendar says it’s late May, but recreation opportunities in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest right now are more like the Fourth of July.
Following a winter of very little snow, the backcountry of the Cascades between the Columbia River and Mount Rainier is accessible to campers, hikers, horsemen and others two months earlier than normal.
The Forest Service reports patches of snow in the interior of Indian Heaven Wilderness and a snow level ranging from 5,000 to 6,000 feet elevation in Mount Adams Wilderness.
Many trails usually under multiple feet of snow in late May already have been logged out and readied for the summer by agency crews.
Memorial Day weekend starts the summer recreation season, and that’s good, said Emily McCarty, co-owner of Eagle Cliff Store and Campground with her husband, Zach.
It’s the McCartys second year at Eagle Cliff and nice weather weekends during the summer bring the tourist traffic on which the business depends.
“It’s hard to compete with the north side of the mountain (St. Helens),” she said. “That’s where all the funding goes to advertise. This is the side where everything is the way it used to be. This is the forgotten side.”
With the snow mostly gone, the backcountry is getting used early. Five cars were at the Indian Heaven trail No. 33 parking area in Cultus Creek campground late Sunday afternoon.
Here’s a look that what’s available for Memorial Day weekend (and it’s most of the forest):
Campgrounds — Most campgrounds are open.
Among them are Goose Lake, Beaver, Peterson Prairie, Sunset, Panther Creek, Trout Lake Creek and Walupt Lake. Cultus Creek, Forlorn Lakes, Government Mineral Springs and Little Goose are accessible for use, but have not been maintained.
Paradise Creek and Oklahoma campgrounds open Friday, according to Hoodoo Recreation, the concessionaire that operates many of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest campgrounds.
The high-elevation campgrounds on the west side of Mount Adams — include Takhlakh Lake, Horseshoe Lake, Killen Creek and Keenes — are not scheduled to open until June 26.
Trails — The trails in the interior of Indian Heaven still have some snow, although many can be followed.
Last week, there still was snow along Wapiki Lake. East Crater No. 48 and Racetrack No. 171 in Indian Heaven already have been maintained.
The trails in Trapper Creek Wilderness are free of snow. Soda Peaks Lake No. 133 has had downed trees logged out.
The snow level in Mount Adams Wilderness is between 5,500 and 6,600 feet elevation. That means the lower ends of Stagman Ridge No. 12. Killen Creek No. 113, Divide Camp No. 112 and Muddy Meadows No. 13 are open, but not their junctions with the Round the Mountain No. 9 or Pacific Crest trails.
Roads — All the major roads are open, including the key north-side routes, which are road No. 25 from Pine Creek to Randle and road No. 23 from Trout Lake to Randle.
Mount St. Helens — Roads Nos. 26 and 99 on the east side are open. Road No. 99 leads to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint overlooking Spirit Lake. Special interpretive talks will be offered at 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Windy Ridge Amphitheater.
Lantern Rentals at Ape Cave are available from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sunday, then daily beginning June 27.
Forest road No. 81-830 to Climber’s Bivouac is open.
