9/27 Saturday, sunny with clouds. 7am. Steve picked up me, Duncan and Charlene at Parkrose P&R and drove to Cultus Creek campground, where we started our relaxing yet adventurous weekend in Indian Heaven.
The first hour is steady uphill (south), not too steep, but enough to get you warm up. In 30 minutes, there's viewpoint for Adams and Rainier. We stopped at Cultus Lake for snack. Starting here, it's meadow land: mostly flat, full of yummy huckleberries and brilliant autumn color. We turned east (left) onto Lemei trail to its highest point for an overview of the eastern landscape: Rainier (barely), Adams, Hood, and Lake Wapiki below. On the way back, we decided to scramble up Lemei Rock. Duncan and I got to the top, so we could see Mt St Helen. Coming down is a slow process. 
More lush meadows and ponds until Junction Lake.
At the SE end, we turn on PCT. It's now all in the woods. More up and downs. Not very interesting, until Blue Lake. It's the bluest of all the lakes here. Restricted camping here. Tombstone Lake is a short steep hike down, not pretty. We found a spot high on its northern slope, but just below that is a lake shore day-use spot, which became our kitchen and hangout. The easily reachable sites are all taken.9/28 Sunday.
The lake is calm in the morning, made a perfect reflection. I took off 7:30-8:30 by myself along Thomas Lake trail. Saw a few more ponds, small meadows without many berries. The mist rising above the ponds and grass dew in the sun is lovely. We backtracked on PCT ~9:30, and the water was no longer still. At the highest point on trail, we bushwhacked to the east (right - the blue line on my map) towards East Crater. I took to the ridge line, while Steve followed the contour. I soon lost sight of everyone as well as where I was supposed to go. As it got quite bushy, I decided to turn back. Soon Duncan showed up. Armed with Garmin, Steve and Charlene got to the top of the crater and saw a small lake. I waited reading my Kindle. 
Back at Junction Lake, we continued on PCT, which is more boring, and no berries. Checked out Bear Lake and Elk Lake. Bear Lake is quite pretty. I saw at least 2 nice campsites on its southern shore. Detoured to Clear Lake for lunch. Another pretty lake, Steve swam a bit. I saw one good campsite where we ate. No berries though :( The last 2 miles (the northern piece) is very steep, going down. We explored one bluff briefly for view of Adams. ~4pm, arrived at the Campground at a different location. Steve, who lives in WA, kindly dropped all of us at Hollywood TC, more convenient for us.
