Please note:
- Potential black bear in the area-- we spoke with a man at the TH on Sunday who lives in the area and walks from his home to the TH regularly. He said he encountered a black bear recently on one of these walks.
- Lots of dogs on the trail, and less than 1/2 were leashed. Please keep your pets on a leash to protect the wildlife and tranquility of others. We had one dog barge into our lunch spot with the owner walking up a minute later, and were nearby when an unleashed dog kept bothering a leashed one.
We did a two night trip, spending the first night at Big Heart Lake and the second at Copper Lake. As others have stated, the bugs are out!
Getting to the TH, the road has potholes but you can basically swerve around them all and should be fine in a normal clearance vehicle. We got to there around 1:15 and got lucky snagging the last spot in a crowded lot.
As for the hike, WTA saying it's 7.3 miles from the TH to Big Heart Lake, but it felt longer (probably due to being out of shape and having packs). We left the TH around 1:30 and reached Big Heart around 7, just in time for dinner.
We skipped Malachite on the way up but took our dinner there on Day 2. As WTA suggests, it's worth the visit, especially since it's so close to Copper Lake! We also made a half-hearted attempt to go to Angeline Lake but decided to cut it for time. Too bad since another group showed us some pictures and said it was only about a 45 minute hike from Big Heart to get to a great viewpoint! I guess we'll have to check it out next time.
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