We were the only ones on the trail all day. A treat for a hike that is usually much busier.

Mountain Loop Hwy in good shape with a minor construction area.

Road to the trailhead had snow from the start off of the Mountain Loop Hwy. There's a Road Closed sign at the beginning, but we interpreted it to be for the fork on the right that displays an obvious washout. Anyway,the road was easily and carefully navegable in my little Hyundai Elantra. A few holes to dodge and some sections where the car is a bit low, but nevertheless not bad.

Snow at trailhead and on-and-off in the first section of trail to the old road. Easily walked with hiking boots (waterproof) or winter boots.

The next section of trail might give the desire to put on snowshoes a ways up, but it is not advisable since there are a lot of bare areas and creek crossings where damage to the snowshoes might happen.

About halfway up there is a conglomeration of fallen trees across the trail. These can be walked around without difficulty, but watch your step. It can be slippery and uneven when stepping around this. There is another tree down further up, but this one is much less significant.

At about 3/4 of the way up, snow begins to be more constant and snowshoes can help somewhat for the rest of the hike, although it's still a solid tread to the lake. Once at the lake it is necessary to have snowshoes if you plan on exploring a little. The snow in the upper area right before the lake and around it can be deep and frustrating to walk on without them, and as we found out, a screaming-good-time to venture on with them

We had lunch, took some pictures, and enjoyed a few micro-avalanches before heading down. Beautiful day too.

lake froze over, some weak spots in ice near shore. about a foot or so of snow on ground near lake, trail well defined. one blow down about 1/4 way up also slide over trail near blow down has left about 20' of tangled logs over trail (no big deal) pretty spot.

Great place for photos at Heather Lake today. Not a breath of wind on the Lake. One new blow-down on the trail, about a mile and a half in. Water running down the trail from Friday night's heavy rains. About twenty people here later in the day. Had the Lake to myself in the morning for a while. The trip around the Lake only takes about thirty minutes, and the trail is in good shape.

Learned yesterday, that it takes longer to drive the 30 miles from Everett to the trailhead at Heather Lake during rush hour, than it does to hike to Heather Lake! Trail is in great shape. Only item of significance to report is that this is a hike that a frequent hiker can do on a weeknight this time of year that offers great rewards. Left the car at 6:05pm, and hiked clear around the lake, stopping to take 40 pics, and was still back to the car at 8:30, with an hour of daylight to spare. Sunset pic is from the Pilchuck trailhead.