J. and I decided to take a long, steep way up to the Indian Henry’s Hunting Ground patrol cabin to see it in wintertime. Loooong. Steeeep. I’ve been through in summertime while on the Wonderland Trail, and in that season it’s a riot of wildflowers (and mosquitoes). Adding cold temps and a good amount of snow in November, it was a hard day, but still a lot of fun and The Mountain cooperated by letting us see her for about 2 minutes before clouding over. It’s 12 miles R/T from the Kautz Creek trailhead, with about 3200 feet of elevation gain, most of it through dense forest with no views, but still beautiful.
We crossed several small high meadows before getting to the actual Indian Henry’s meadow. We were just about to call it a day and turn around when we saw the patrol cabin on the far side of the meadow. It has to be the most beautiful little cabin I’ve ever seen. We only spent about 15 minutes resting on the front porch before heading back, not wanting to end up hiking after dark.
After the 6-mile hike back down 3200 feet of elevation loss, our legs were jelly by the time we got back to the car, but still very worth it and we felt like we were on top of the world for a little while. 🙂
