Mt. Hood National Forest
July 24, 2001
The trip begins at Indian Springs, which is several miles west of Wahtum Lake on a rough gravel and rock road. One proceeds upwards along the ridgetop until the road ends. You then walk west past a guardrail barrier along an old fire road to the north shoulder of Indian Mt.. Atop this shoulder are areas of shrub scrub, grasslands, and rock fields. Turn left here and follow an old, rocky road upwards along the western rim of this ridge. The road diminishes to a path high in the forest atop Indian Mt. which then climbs to the rocky summit. The south face of Indian Mt. drops sharply many hundreds of feet to the forest below. The trail is rarely used (perhaps a dozen hikers a month), and the upper reaches currently have some large blow down trees acrros the path. These aren't too difficult to navigate around.
Indian Springs and Indian Mt. are just outside the southern boundary to the Mark Hatfield (formerly Columbia) Wilderness. There are great views to the north down Eagle Creek to the Bonneville area in the Columbia River Gorge as well as Mt. Adams in the immediate distance, and to the west toward Larch Mt..
From the summit of Indian Mt. itself, one may see Satus Pass and the Columbia Hills in the east, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, Olallie Butte, and the top of Three Fingered Jack in the south.
Indian Springs:
1. Queen's Cup: Clintonia uniflora
2. Avalanche Lily: Erythronium montanum
*3. Columbia Tiger Lily: Lilium columbianum
4. Beargrass: Xerophyllum tenax
*5. Red Sorrel: Rumex acetosella
*6. Red Columbine: Aquilegia formosa
*7. Inside-out-flower: Vancouveria hexandra
*8. Bunchberry: Cornus canadensis
*9. Rough Wall Flower: Erysimum asperum
*10. Rusty Saxifrage: Saxifraga ferruginea var. macounii
*11. Partridge Foot: Luetkea pectinata
12. Drummond's Cinquefoil: Potentilla drummondii
*13. Dwarf Bramble: Rubus lasiococcus
*14. Mt. Spiraea: Spiraea densiflora
*15. Broad-leaved Lupine: Lupinus latifolius var. latifolius
*16. Gray's Lovage: Ligusticum grayi
*17. Martindale's Desert Parsley: Lomatium martindalei
*18. Pinesap: Hypopitys monotropa
*19. Fool's Huckleberry: Menziesia ferruginea var. glabella
*20. Bracted Lousewort: Pedicularis bracteosa var. flavida
*21. Leafy Pedicularis: Pedicularis racemosa
*22. Cardwell's Penstemon: Penstemon cardwellii
*23. Sitka Valerian: Valeriana sitchensis
*24. Yarrow: Achillea millefolium
*25. Pearly Everlasting: Anaphalis margaritacea
*26. Umber Pussy-toes: Antennaria umbrinella ?
*27. Broad-leaved Arnica: Arnica latifolia
*28. Arrow-leaf Groundsel: Senecio triangularis
*1. Beargrass: Xerophyllum tenax
*2. Sulphur-flowered Buckwheat: Eriogonum umbellatum var. umbellatum
*3. Mt. Sandwort: Arenaria capillaris
*4. Douglas' Campion: Silene douglasii
*5. Rough Wall Flower: Erysimum asperum
6. Dwarf Mt. Ash: Sorbus sitchensis
*7. Martindale's Desert Parsley: Lomatium martindalei
*8. Harsh Paintbrush: Castilleja hispida
*9. Cardwell's Penstemon: Penstemon cardwellii
10. Cliff Penstemon: Penstemon rupicola
*11. Yarrow: Achillea millefolium
*12. White-flowered Hawkweed: Hieracium albiflorum
*13. Scouler's Hawkweed: Hieracium scouleri var. scouleri