Tried to do this hike but Icicle Creek Rd is closed and covered in snow at 4th of July Creek

Its an easy hike to Little Eight Mile lake and the turnoff to Lake Caroline. The hike up to the Caroline lakes is moderately hard due to some steep,rocky sections and the burned out timber from large fire. We started out early at 0830 which is advisable because of south exposure which makes this a very warm hike later in the day. There are 10+ large blowdowns currently on the trail....but the wildflowers were worth it! Incredible displays of all types all the way to Windy Pass but especially half way up in the rust colored talus/rocky area.
Crested the gap to Lake Caroline in 2 hours, then 4 steep switchbacks to the lake. Then meander thru forest to Little Caroline Lake, some small snow patches left but melting quick. THe hike up to WIndy Pass was easier, several small snow patches but one interesting one. It is located three switchbacks from top, 100' wide and 200' long...OK with poles and kicksteps but is treacherous in morning when frozen still. The views at Windy Pass are superb, Stuart range is in full view. Climbed the 7380' knob to south of pass for better views. Great breeze all day kept bugs at bay.
Then we descended 1+ miles and 1000' down into the Trout creek basin to camp....trail has 6+ switchbacks and steep going down. No sign of recent hikers....nice area to camp by two streams coming off the Mt Cashmere ridge.
Up early next day, greeted by hummingbirds at WIndy Pass, across the frozen snow patch...should be melted out in 7-10 days...and then down the mountain and off to the 59er at Clines Corner for a vanilla shake. Great hike, great views, great wildflowers and recommend those with more time and eagerness to go down into the Trout creek basin.

We were looking for a long strenuous day hike and the trek out to Big Heart Lake fit the bill!

We arrived at the trailhead at 9:00 after a refreshingly smooth drive down Forest Road 68. There were about 5 cars already there, but they all turned out to be from people who were overnighting at the lakes up-trail. Overall, we saw 4 parties who were heading into the mountains for the day. We were moving by 9:15.

A sign at the trailhead advised that the bridge over the Foss River was out and that route finding skills would be necessary for the re-route along the river's gravel bar. 'Route finding skills' turned out to be much overstated. There was pink flagging or cairns every 5 feet or so along the entire re-route. The river crossing turned out to be easy - the foot log that used was a wide log with a flat top.

About 1 mile from the trailhead, be sure to stop and gaze at the huge tree that the passes right by.

We reached Copper Lake by 11:30 and took a quick lunch next to the log jam.

We shortly got going, left Copper Lake, hiked past Little Heart Lake, and made it to Big Heart Lake by 1:15. When descending into the Big Heart Lake basin, be sure to keep an eye out for the huge waterfall from nearby Angeline Lake. At Big Heart, we fired up the camp stove and enjoyed some hard-earned hot chocolate!

On the way back past Copper Lake, we took a quick detour up to Lake Malachite. (If it's a rainy day, be sure to put on rain gear if you're heading up that way. Otherwise, brushing up against all the overgrown bushes will get you wet in a hurry!)

Made it back to the car by 6:00.

Overall, it was a long but enjoyable hike - 5 beautiful lakes in 13 miles! Since it was a wet day, the trail was muddy in spots, so be prepared to get a little dirty!

Synopsis: West Fork Foss River: #1064 Trout, Copper and Malachite Lakes

Great TH toilet block, first 400 yards rerouted on new path, log bridge partially submerged but passable. Great brush work from Trout lake up to 3200' contour. Overall trail in great shape - dry, virtually no mud one or two old blow downs easily navigated.

Snow at 4000'; last 4 yards to Copper over mushy but compacted snow. Log jam crossing exciting due to high water level of lake, some are just floating!

Camp sites practically all melted out.

The Hike:

Wanted to make the most of the first decent weather weekend this year since March (sheesh!) and hopefully before the bugs emerged. Long time wish to overnight at Copper took me there on the morning of Friday 25th June. FS road somewhat pot holed requiring some care to avoid the big ones. Only 1 other car at TH, sign board still wrapped for winter (wrapping was gone when I returned).

Evidence of FS maintenance on what is arguably one of the finest hikes off hwy 2. Clean new toilet block and a rerouted initial path alongside old stream bed path for about 400 yards. Uneventful through to the large log bridge, which since last year has sunk on this side of river bank making the first 6' wet with some other logs hindering access to it (See pic). Water volume causing log to be splashed over some of its length making log look very slippy, but it isn't and with care is reasonably easy to navigate.

Brushy ascent through clearings up to Trout, no other soul in sight and very peaceful. Now comes the huge improvement on this "unmaintained" (that's what the TH sign says) trail. The shrubbery from Trout onwards up to the base of the Copper Lake outlet falls at about 3200' has been truly cut back opening up the entire tread and halting the gradual decline of the trailbed down the slope. New foot trails are already being created and this has greatly improved the access and the general feel-good factor of this trail.

The falls at the head of the valley are magnificent and a full volume from the snow melt and fill the steep sided valley with booming thunder. After 3200' the brush work stops (FS please, please, please continue your work in the upper stretches were shrub incursion and trail erosion will soon make this trail a real pain). As the trail levels out above the falls the area is very wet and boggy but the trail remains mostly dry. At 4000' and some 1/4 mile from Copper lake the snow line is reached and there are long stretches of compacted but soft snow to negotiate. Just watch out for those pesky rock melt outs under the snow. Getting to the lake shore at the log jam is a bit of a bash and then working out a good course through the log maze if fun, and occasionally you'll get a floater or roller, so I strongly advise hiking poles and testing everything before committing - but it's doable.

Many campsites across the log jam all of which are melted out. Uneventful but awesomely peaceful first night at Copper. My initial intention was to try for Big Heart Lake but the snow fields at the lake soon dissuaded me, but I did a foray over patchy snow fields round to Little Heart Lake.

On Saturday, the day dawned with patchy clouds and mist and I thought I should return back home, so packed up and set off but at the falls the sun broke through and promised a glorious day and nature reminded me of its presence as a hornet stung me on my ankle. So as I had supplies for 3 days I turned tail and regained the lost 200' back to the Malchite TH. (This is flashed with an orangle tag, but the TH sign is easy to miss as it is high up (about 12') on a large tree and easily missed. The trail up to Malchite was great considering it's only a boot trail and I expected much snow, but there was none until you hit the level section approaching the lake. In fact access to Malchite is much easier than Copper. However, the log jam was just too flaky for me but all the campsites were on the far side of the outlet (many floaters and rollers). So I backtracked down the outlet to a point where the river starts its tumble down the valley and there are a set of wonderfully flat and non slippy rocks that can be navigated in boots without geting your feet wet, so I made it.

There was one other party in the traditional camp site, most of which was buried in about 4' of snow. So I located a spot that I had scoped out last year and with the removal of a small amount of snow uncovered a lovely flat area with a great hanging tree right next to it (See pic).

It's difficult to say which is more beautiful Copper or Malchite, but who cares they are both stunning and I spent another gloriously peaceful day there and the weather obliged with a sizzling cobalt blue sky and high temperatures; I could almost see the snow receding under the blaze of the sun.

Sunday dawned with an overcast sky that stayed with me all the way to the car, so this was a blessing and the log crossing is much easier coming back. Oh and did my original idea work out? ie no bugs - you bet. I got hit 3 times in 3 days, so I would count that as bug free considering how bad the Foss river can get.

Go now, while the bugs are still unsure - the trail is awesome and the sights magnificent.