West Fork Foss River and Lakes — Tuesday, Sep. 2, 2025

Spent two nights on the West Fork Foss River Trail and got as far as the ridge above Big Heart Lake.

Notes (Written under the influence of a three-day solo backpacking trip):

The first blowdown between Trout and Copper Lake is navigable two or maybe three ways (pictured).   This blowdown occurs just before the original trail reaches a switchback – I only found this out after scurrying up the very steep, pack-grabbing-stick littered, and loose-soiled path to the left of the blowdown. I call this option 1 and do not recommend it with a full pack. Option 2 – Under the blowdown may be accessible if you are smaller than I am and have no pack. I did not attempt this route. The clear winner is option 3, but it wasn’t apparent to me that trail angels had placed the sturdy sticks on the right on purpose. I figured this out on my way back when I went around the switchback from the top to check out the other side and found nice notches for your feet cut into the blowdown itself. There is also a couple of small but sturdy branches nailed into the gap between the two trees that constitute the blowdown and finally the “ramp” pictured to the right. Getting over the top was far easier than following the trail. On my first pass I honestly thought the sticks just happened to be there. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that and so that inspired this report.

Little Heart Lake is a fine place to camp with great access to water from the outflow. I found a place to access the lake for swimming that required navigating some logs in the water. It was HOT out and the swim was divine. The toilet is actually located west of where the Gaia map says it is, and the sign isn’t exactly on the main path. It’s up what I interpreted as a social trail.

Auroras were forecast and I had never seen them before. It’s a little weird that the actual experience - a foggy patch in the sky -  is only validated by taking a picture of it with one’s phone. The exact opposite of what I prefer - that direct experience validates what is seen on such devices.

In the morning, I packed up and went to Big Heart Lake planning to set up camp and head towards Iron Cap without the weight of all my gear. The terrain between these lakes takes on the familiar look of the Alpine Lakes with fir and hemlock trees among granite outcrops.

As soon as I had set up camp, the heat had taken over and I was seduced into the blue water of the lake. There are large-rock access points on either side of “the beach” which is comprised of a log jam. Hands down the best swimming of my summer.

I didn’t make it anywhere close to Iron Cap but spent a good amount of time exploring the area just above Big Heart with views of the lake down the cliff and Glacier, Daniels, and Hinman in the distance over the valley. Then another swim before dinner as a little smoke started to roll in.

Morning and another swim with the pikas cheering me on. The smoke was getting serious with ash collecting on my gear.  It was time to meander back to the trailhead.

With the cuts to the forest service, I was surprised how well maintained the trails were. No garbage or TP piles on switchbacks. Thank you, fellow hikers! Keep it up!  The only real eyesore was some graffiti left by a party just this year (also pictured). At least they used proper looking “2”s to convey the year 2025 unlike the loop-de-loop “2”s used by the person who decided to unhelpfully graffiti “Lake 22” on a rock at Lake Twenty-Two, in case you forgot where you were, a few years back.

The area was fairly busy and there were no Alpine Lakes permits left at the trailhead. I wish there was another way to count the users so that resources may be allocated for maintenance.  It’s like running a census without counting all our real, human neighbors and then wondering why the services we all rely upon can’t keep up with demand.