Heather Lake

I needed a bit of exercise so I drove up the Mountain Loop Highway to do Heather Lake in the morning. I was awake early and at the trailhead and hiking at 8am. The lower part of the trail is in good shape except for the normal roots. The last half mile to the lake has snow patches, but they are melting fast. (This was a big improvement over when I did this on 6/1 and the trail was completely snow covered and the lake was still partially frozen over.) The flowers are out and I saw marsh marigolds, bunchberry, thimbleberry, foamflower, and more.

Since the snow was mostly gone I was able to start to walk around the lake. Slightly less than halfway going clockwise there has been an avalanche shortly after the boardwalk and the fallen trees completely bury the trail. It may be possible to find a route through the trees, but I was not that ambitious.

The mosquitoes are out in force.