Lots of Sun and Exposure on Little Belknap Crater Hike

Wear a hat and have good shoes if you decide to hike to Little Belknap Crater. With little shade, summertime temperatures can be high, so a fall hike is recommended. This was the second time we hiked to Little Belknap, so we knew what to expect.  We took this hike on October 15, 2022, the last day for the required 2022 Central Cascades Wilderness Permits and we saw a total of 10 other people the entire time. It was a beautiful fall day with temperatures reaching the 60's, and despite some haze from the Cedar Creek fire which has been burning in the Willamette National Forest since early August, the views were good.  After taking in the sights from the top of Little Belknap, we elected to continue on the Pacific Crest Trail to see if we could reach George Lake near Mt. Washington, a place we have never been.

As we hiked past Little Belknap and the end of the acres of lava rock, we entered the forest and enjoyed the trees and fall foliage before, to our surprise, we were back trekking through lava rock interspersed with dead trees, the result of the 2017 Milli Fire. However, there were signs of new life with young trees and plants and even chipmunks and ground squirrels.  Once we reached the end of the lava, the PCT turned left and the trail continued around the flanks of Mt. Washington. However, we had already hiked over 5 miles. Knowing we still had to hike out, we turned around and returned the way we came; we will have to find George Lake another day. All in all we traveled over 10.5 miles with 2000 feet of elevation gain mostly over difficult hiking conditions with the loose rock.