West Fork Foss River and Lakes

This was my first hike to Big Heart Lake and the trail was more popular than I had expected. Ran into about a dozen parties on the way in, and about the same amount on the way out, mostly backpackers. Not sure if this was because more people have been forced to this trail this year by the lingering snow at other high elevation destinations, but at least this was part of the reason why I chose this hike.

The forest service road leading to the trailhead was in very good shape, with only a few small potholes. At .5 mile into the trail, a detour sign pointed out the way to the temporary log crossing, which is no longer partially submerged in water as indicated in earlier trip reports. Except for a few easily passed under blowdowns, the trail was in good condition all the way to Copper Lake, where most hikers seemed to end their hike.

From Copper Lake, the trail hugs the lakeshore towards the far side of the lake, where there were a couple pretty bad blowdowns which obscured the trail and required some efforts to get over. After Little Heart Lake and near the highest point on the trail, there were a couple steep snowfields which are best crossed with the help of poles or skirted around through boulders below. From there, the trail soon starts to descend and brings you to a bowl at the bottom with a big snowfield, where it took me some time to pick up the trail again. Here you should go straight across the snowfield and the trail is very clear on the other side. After that, the trail was easy to follow despite some snow patches.

Once at Big Heart Lake, it was beautifl and quiet, with only three tents there. I soaked in the views and sun before heading back. The whole trip took me about 8.5 hours.