Day & Section Hikes Pacific Crest Trail: Washington. Adrienne Schaefer

      One of the many quiet meadows along the Lemei Lake Loop

       From the pullout, head south (across the road) to the trailhead, which is well established and easy to find. The trail is flat at the start and almost immediately enters the Indian Heaven Wilderness, an area rich in natural resources. Abundant berries, wild game, and fish have brought a number of American Indian tribes to this area for nearly 10,000 years. Many Indians continue to uphold their traditions in the Sawtooth Huckleberry Fields, which are some of the most productive huckleberry fields in the Northwest. Situated just east of Forest Road 24, parts of the fields are designated for exclusive use by the Yakama Nation through a handshake agreement with the U.S. Forest Service in 1932. As you’ll probably notice on the hike to Placid Lake, many of the berries here are harvested as well. Not to worry, the entire hike is laden with a variety of huckleberry bushes, providing ample opportunities to sample one of nature’s greatest treats.

      After a pleasant 0.5-mile stroll through a large stand of timber, you reach the shallow waters of Placid Lake. The gentle descent is a good warm-up for the 1,000-foot climb from the lake up to the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Continue along the trail as it skirts just up from the southern shore of the lake, and in a short distance you reach a marked junction. Veer left, as the marker indicates, along Trail 29. The path quickly climbs above the lake, and in less than 0.5 mile, you reach the junction for Chenamus Lake (Trail 29A). Continue heading east on Trail 29.

      From the junction, the trail makes a steady climb through a beautiful forest, alive with an assortment of mushrooms, moss-covered trees, and small flowers. At 1.5 miles, the trail reaches a bench that rises above Placid Lake’s inlet. By midsummer, the inlet looks more like a small meadow than a flowing creek. In another 0.3 mile, the trail passes a group of moss-covered boulders that mark the outlet of a tiny, unnamed pond, one of many in this area. Then it wraps around the pond and drops into a shrubby meadow. A few hundred more feet and you reach a lush grass meadow, a great spot to take a break late in summer or fall, when the ground is dry and the bugs are gone.