Heather Lake — Saturday, May. 17, 2003

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

We picked Heather lake because the weather had precluded a higher hike. We had a party of 9 (church group ages ranging from about 14 to a lady of about 80). The trail starts on an old logging road (foot traffic only) with about 8 cars at the trailhead. There was some snow at the sides of the trail, which gradually changed to a well-packed snow trail. No blow downs, but a little mud in places. This is a scenic trail with some old growth ending at a lake in a bowl. We did find lots of exposed roots and a little water (snow melt) running down the trail. It was still plenty hikeable and would make a great family hike. We were blessed with intermittent clouds and no precipitation. Once we arrived at the lake we found it snow covered where we ate lunch and watched the sun heated snow cascade off the cliffs above the other side of the lake. On the way up I was concerned going down the steep parts of the trail covered with wet snow, but on the return had found the sun had removed most the snow from our tread. I highly recommend this hike for anyone looking for a short (4 miles round trip) moderate (only 1000 foot climb) spring outing.