Well, me and my faithful hiking companion Sebastian decided to do two hikes. We did Heather Lake as our warm-up hike. It was icy near the top and there was snow up at the lake itself. As it was a sunny day, it was quite pretty and there weren't too many folks around. After finishing that hike we went up to Lake 22 and the first two bridges were icy and then it was icy again going through the rocks. Going up in the ice is always easier than coming back down. Both lakes were frozen over, although there was more snow at Heather Lake than Lake 22. All in all, it was a good hiking foray. Happy Hiking :0)

Lovely trip up to Heather Lake today. Some bugs at the lake, and muddy spots on the way up, but overall, the trail was in good shape. Be careful on the slick rocks though....might not be a good time for very little ones in the rain.

I know there have been about a million trip reports written on Heather Lake. It’s a close-in, short hike with a lake at the end of the trail. These facts, coupled with the fact that its neighbor, Lake 22, is nothing special, had kept me from visiting. When weekend plans got scotched by the responsibilities of real life, I thought I’d take a couple of hours and give it a go. I left Ballard at 5:00 pm, arriving at the TH at 6. The road appears to be in decent shape, but there are immense potholes, and you can’t see them until you’re right on top of them. Do the car a favor and slow down a bit when you hit the gravel. The parking lot had about 20 cars in it, but I passed everyone in the first mile, as I was going in so late. The trail ascends gently and pleasantly through dense forest, and then steepens as the forest opens up. The trail has had work done on it this season by WTA work crews, and is in great shape. About a half-mile from the lake, the trail turns to snow. It’s easy snow travel though, I was hiking in trail running shoes and didn’t get wet feet. The lake is completely melted out, though the shoreline is still completely under snow. There are impressive waterfalls at the far end of the lake, dropping in from the sheer granite cliffs of Mount Pilchuck. Heather Lake has much to offer. It looks like a fun snowshoe, would be a great place to take the kids for their first backpacking trip, and is recommended for a quick hike after work. The snow path is quite braided, and on my way out, I was a bit lazy and got off-route. As it turns out, it’s only about 75 yards from Heather Creek to the trail, so I found my way in short order. Nice quick descent to the car.

Started trail around 7:00 A.M. Trail crew was working on trail today. Trail muddy in places. Did not encounter snow until last half mile. Lake is 75% unthawed. Snow depth around lake about 8 feet. Seen several avalanches and rockalls. Try to stay away from chutes at south end of Lake. Overall very scenic, and beautiful!!Watch out for unseen holes when crossing snowbidges...

I went out scouting the Heather Lake trail for a work party this Sunday. The road to the trailhead has some pretty impressive potholes -- it's in the worst shape I've seen it for a long time, but a basic passenger car can make it if you're good at dogging things. The trail is its usual mess with lots of clogged drainage and water running down the trail in places. There will be plenty of work to keep the crew busy in the first ½ mile. Snow starts a little more than half way up the trail and becomes deep and continuous probably ½ a mile before the lake. The lake is still frozen over except for the outlet and a small patch along the southern shore. I sat here and had lunch listening to and watching for avalanches on the cliffs across the lake. I was delighted to see an otter pop his head out of the lake a peer around. He then pulled himself up onto the ice just about 25' away from. His nostrils worked the air furiously aware that something didn't smell right -- namely me. He scanned me several times, but his eye-site didn't seem to be acute enough to warn him that a black blob sitting on the shore sucking Darjeeling tea out of a Zojurshi Tuffboy could be potentially dangerous. Eventually a dog visiting the lake outlet barked and the otter disappeared back under the ice.