Mia and I are celebrating seventeen years of marriage this weekend. It has been quite the adventure from our first date until now and so many things could never have been imagined back then (like living in freaking Oregon).
We took off with Codi for the Indian Heaven Wilderness and what is becoming a yearly tradition. The wild huckleberries are coming ripe in August and into September. So off to Indian Heaven and the thousands of acres of wild bushes.
Given the drought conditions this year we were not certain how good the berry picking would be. It wasn’t horrible but we feel like we may have missed the peak by a week or two.
On the other hand the fall colors are starting to pop
It was crazy how busy the trails were. The Thomas Lake trailhead isn’t exactly the easiest to get to and it was packed when we got there. We were like the 8th car to park along the forest road (easily twice as many as that when we got back to the car).
We did our typical Blue Lake lunch stop. We didn’t linger too long though because there were just a lot of people.
While hiking back out to the car we passed easily 15+ people along the way who all appeared to be intent on camping for the night. Where the heck there were all going to stay is beyond me. Most of the lake sites we saw were already taken.
All in all it was a good day. Codi was havingsome G.I. issues throughout the day but his enthusiasm was not tempered in the least. He spent plenty of time swimming and meeting a ton of other dogs. By the end though he was pooped out (in more way than one).
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
Congrats!
Indian Heaven was my first, and to date, ONLY backpacking destination. I did it four years ago, right before Labor Day and the Eagle Creek Fire. I remember picking the huckleberries and packing them into a Tupperware, then using them for pancakes in the morning.