It was my first time in the Chuckanut Mountains, so I decided to make a nice, big loop. Started at the Cyrus Gates Overlook trailhead at around 9:30. Was the first car in the lot. There were a couple inches of snow on the road near the top, but the gates were all open and my 4WD had no issue getting up. Sunny day with clouds covering the higher peaks, so nice views of the nearby islands and mountains, but not much beyond that. Spotted the towers of Vancouver in the distance though.
Began by winding around to Lost Lake. I went all the way down to the water level and continued along the edge to the Lost Lake waterfalls on the east side of the lake. This was actually a really neat spot. It's interesting that a lake with such an oblong shape drains from the broad side, rather than one of the ends. The creek flows quickly and shallowly over hard rock before dropping over a much larger cliff than I had expected. I'd strongly recommend checking it out for yourself.
I then headed north, stopping at Raptor Ridge overlook for a snack and some brief sunbathing, before continuing east to Cedar Lake. Cedar Lake was still partially frozen, unlike Lost Lake. Backtracked to the Hemlock trail and headed toward the Chuckanut Ridge trail to take me back up to the trailhead. Taking the Hemlock trail meant a lot of downhill before heading back up which never feels great. Probably should have just backtracked more along Raptor Ridge trail to North Lost Lake trail as there wasn't much to see along the Hemlock and Salal trails anyway.
Made it back to the car by 3:30. Felt longer than I expected (Google Maps says it was about 11.5 miles), but I enjoyed the trip greatly. Hardly any snow on the actual hiking trail, even though the road was covered. Only passed a handful of other walkers, joggers, and cyclists. Highlights were the Lost Lake falls and the general solitude.
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