A great 8 mile hike with late summer flowers, relatively easy walking, fabulous water falls, great views of the mountain(Mount Hood) and views of the Clark Creek and Newton Creek drainages. Crosses a section of Mount Hood Meadows Ski area which is fun to see the differences in the wintertime and summertime appearances. Not too many people on Thursday, although we did pass some 20 persons on the last day of their hike around Mt. Hood. No bugs, five star hike.

Great hike into Indian Heaven. Huckleberries out and still lots of flowers. Didn’t do a circuit, in and back, but had a nice swim in Blue Lake. More people on trail than I would have expected. Still, not crowded and we saw only 6 people pass the lake while we were swimming. 5 stars. Dave, Julie, Ken and Debbie stayed in the water longer than Jill and me. Cold but not frigid water.

Hike to Junction Lake. Lunch, Debbie and Julie swam in lake. Jill, me, David and Ken did a circuit around a piece of the PTC passing Deer, Elk, Bear and Clear Lakes. Fabulous flowers No mosquitoes this time of year. 5 Star hike.