Heather Lake — Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2025

I didn't get to the trailhead until 9:30am, which is an unusually late start for me. Despite that I still was only the 8th vehicle in the lot. The thick, low clouds this morning had caused me to scuttle my original hiking plans so I decided to do this one instead. I haven't hiked this one since 2002 so it felt like a new experience. BTW thanks to the recent road repair pretty much any vehicle can make it... no more bomb craters to dodge.

I began the hike in a cool, dark misty forest. The first 3/4 mile of the trail has been completely regraded with gravel and fresh stairs and is basically a cakewalk. Then it abruptly changes and you're right back to the rocky, rooty mess everybody knows and loves. The trail was damp from yesterday evening's brief rainfall, but there was no mud to contend with. Just slippery rocks and roots, plus one fallen snag that you have to pull yourself up and over. I hiked in complete solitude until encountering a few ladies not far from the lake, and by the time I reached it after one hour I immediately decided to hang right and do a counter-clockwise loop.

A third of the way around I found a nice large boulder overlooking the lake, not unlike Lake Serene's "Lunch Rock" where you can park your posterior and relax while taking in the view. I stopped there for awhile and ate an early lunch, then continued my journey around the lake. The clouds finally parted while I was at the lake and the cliffs of Mount Pilchuck were in full view. There were also lots of blooming wildflowers, plus plenty of berries which per my usual custom I left alone for sake of the wild animals that rely on them for food. Thankfully the bugs all minded their own business today, unlike my previous hike last week where they tried to suck me dry.

By the time I was back to the loop junction quite a few other parties had arrived at the lake, including some young men playing loud rap music. I headed back down, and at which point I started to encounter an endless stream of people heading to the lake. Some were just couples w/dogs or kids, but a few were very large groups of a dozen or more. However everybody was friendly and trail etiquette was mostly followed. I did pass one dude near the bottom who reeked of marijuana, but oh well. Once back in the forest it became cool and misty again, all the way back to the trailhead. Once there I saw the parking lot was completely full, with 35+ vehicles plus another dozen or so in the neighboring overflow lot. And cars were still arriving as I left.

Overall it was a very pleasant and pretty hike, although the upper two thirds of the trail are still quite rough and will challenge anyone with bad knees or ankles. However I was shocked to see how busy it got on a mostly cloudy Tuesday. I would hate to do this one on the weekend as it must be a madhouse of people, dogs, and loud music. Definitely go on a weekday, and get here early.