Talk about mushrooms! The Angels Wing mushrooms were so plentiful that after I filled two sandwich bags, my hiking partner had to keep me in check with the command "Leave it!"

Barclay Lake is an easy 4 mile round trip with little elevation gain and plenty of lush mosses, deep dark forests, little holes under tree roots that any hobbit would enjoy. The trail to the lake is dry and well maintained with lots of fresh turnpikes. There is only one spot where an upended treeroot damaged the path. The lake has many good campsites, pleasant beaches, and the stunning face of Mt. Baring overhead. That's the easy part. The way to Eagle Lake is altogether different.

At the far end of Barclay lake is a sign for a toilet, then a wood bridge. Just after the bridge is a faint, unmarked trail going uphill. In fact, there are several faint trails evidenced only by the relatively thicker collection of autumn detritus and the occasional pink ribbons. There is a Wild Sky Wilderness sign and thankfully little undergrowth. In general keep the gurgling creek to your right and climb steeply. Evenually the various traces come together to ascend the first big rock slide. Follow the cairns. The way is steep, gnarly, and occasionally overgrown with young trees and nasty sticker bushes.

Finally we arrived at a pleasant flat meadow at the base of the second rock slide. The trail is easier to find and navigate here because it goes up the right hand side through the trees. At the top is little Stone Lake which already has a veneer of ice. From here the trail contours easily around the west side of the lake and down to Eagle Lake. We did not get beyond Stone Lake because it was already getting late. It is 8.5 miles round trip to Eagle Lake from the trailhead with 1700 ft. elevation gain - most of that in the cruel mile up to Stone Lake.

Barclay Lake and Heybrook Lookout are only a few miles apart, and they share more than geographic proximimty. They are also both great hikes to take novices and your non-hiking friends on. They are short, easy trails with no signifigant obsticles but with wonderful scenic payoffs.
Barclay lake is an almost level (50' elevation gain), well maintaned trail that is as water & mud free as any trail in Western Washington can be in November. Since the old growth forest I remember walking through as a child was logged most of the way to the lake, you can use the walk to explain the difference between an intensively managed (i.e. clearcut) tree farm and a natural forest, which you encounter as you near and walk along the lake. Trees were replanted along the trail over 40 years ago, but the understory is still a biological desert, except for the wood fiber. Plenty of sticks, cones and needles carpet the "forest" floor, but little else. The almost total lack of understory diversity gives meaning to the otherwise oxymoronic phrase "can't see the forest for the trees".
As you are just about in sight of the lake you come across an area opened by a small rockslide and get your first real glimpse of the towering vertical wall of Mount Baring to your right. Look to your left for a view of Gunn Peak, source of the rocky rubble on which your stand. For the best view of the lake, keep following the trail to the lakes infall creek, then duck under some thorny shrubs to a small opening at the creeks mouth. Enjoy the trout jumping, rippling the glassy surface.
After this short hike, those who still have some ambition and energy should head to the trailhead for Heybrook Lookout, located about 3 1/2 miles west on Highway 2, just across from the "Leaving Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest" sign. It's only 1 1/3 miles to the top, but the elevation gain is 850', which can be challenging for those not used to walking more than the width of a Mall parking lot. Most of that gain comes in the first half of the ascent, so gently prod your novices with the occasional "one step at a time" or "we're getting close now", and as the grade becomes gentler they'll feel as if they've hit their stride. Before you know it you come to an opening with Mount Index and Bridal Veil falls to your right and the lookout rising from the peak to your left, just a few feet away.
There are seven flights of starirs (68') to the top of the observation platform, from which the views unfold. South is Index, east is the Skykomish River valley winding its way between the mountains towards Stevens Pass, and to the left of that are Mount Baring and Gunn Peak, flanking the valley you just hiked to get to Barclay Lake. Kids faces will light up when they recognize it, a satisfied "I did that!" look on their faces.

This was my first time on the Barclay Lake Trail and I found it enjoyable and rather easy. The worst part of the trip was turning off Highway 2 with 3 or 4 cars behind me; I lucked out in that there was no on coming traffic and making the turn only required slowing and putting on my signal.

The delights of this trip are the forest (some second growth at the beginning but it gets better within a 1/4 mile) and Mt. Baring which is awesome from the lake shore. The guide said the hike was about 1.5 miles to the lake but it seemed closer to 2 or 2.5 miles. The trail is quite flat (rolling might be a better description) and a hike I may do for an overnight with my brother and his teenage son.

Fall was definitely in the air, temperature at the start of the hike was 40 deg. and it may have been cooler in the lake basin.

The weather forecast was favorable so we headed out to the Wild Sky Wilderness area for some exercise and to summit either Merchant or Townsend. Bush wacking up to Merchant was out after seeing how wet the vegetation was so we opted for Townsend since there is a trail much of the way. We bypassed the Eagle lake cabin going in and encountered very wet brush circling to the SE side of the lake and then up throught the boulder field. We made the mistake of continuing straight up over the, often, wet or icy slabs of rock and then gained the ridge around 5300' and continued on toward the summit. We turned back at 5400' since it was slow traveling on the slippery rocks and snow. Coming down we avoided the slippery rock and went down lower on the ridge, at the first tree-line, and cut back under the slab area and over to the well-used gulley.
We stopped at the cabin, since we saw smoke coming out of the chimney. We encountered several inside warming up with a fire. The cabin has been well cared for by someone. It use to be private and was locked for many years but now is open to all. After lunch there we continued down to the trailhead taking pictures of mushrooms along the way. Angel wings are at their peak right now. The trail to Barclay lake is in fine shape and the trail to Eagle lake is not too hard to follow, but not maintained. After Eagle lake a climbers path is visible through the brush and the boulder field is marked to the gulley/stream bed above.
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