Our original plan today was to hike Lake 22 but arriving shortly before 9 AM and finding the trailhead and side road overflowing with cars we went with Heather Lake instead and we were rewarded with a beautiful, peaceful hike. 

The short 1.5 mile unpaved road to get to the trailhead from off the highway had no major potholes to avoid and we were the third car in the parking lot to arrive. The vault toilet was fairly clean and provisioned with TP.

The first quarter to half mile of the trail has had lots of recent trail improvement work, it was so fresh-looking that the trail can't have been open more than a few days. After the refurbished section though, the rest of the trail to the lake does have lots of root and rock obstacles so be prepared for some scrambling. 

Reaching the lake, I was surprised by how beautiful the viewpoint is, especially considering how we had the view to ourselves at times. The relative quiet made for a fantastic bird list of 25 species including Hermit, Swainson's and Varied Thrush, Willow and Western Flycatcher, Wilson's and MacGillivray's Warblers, plus singing Pacific Wrens around almost every turn. Lovely wildflowers as well such as Columbia Lilies, Foamflower, Bride's Bonnet, and Western Bunchberry. 

Had planned to hike Lake 22, got there midday and there were 100 cars in overflow and down the road. Turned around, dejected at how naive we were trying to hit a trail on a holiday, late start, nice day. Had zero phone signal so hard to research alternatives. Stopped a couple miles down the road at the Verlot Public Service Center (great bathrooms FYI). The Forest Service workers there are amazing and knowledgeable, said Lake 22 was unusually busy this year from social media something or other. Gave us some suggestions for less jammed options, and dropped that Heather Lake trail (just a few miles from the visitor center) upgrades had finished early, had just reopened, and this wasn't widely known yet.

Trail was in great shape, new parking lot (there's a loo at the entrance), new gravel on the trail, everything cut back. I'm a middle-aged hiker, with creaky knees, that gets overheated easily. This was a great hike for me, not too long but still a 'real hike', pretty much entirely shaded.

There's a fair amount of picking your path across rooty or rocky areas, a couple of minor areas where (if you too have creaky bones) you have to be a little extra careful. Hiking poles helped me, most were not using them. Trail was dry. It was a high of about 75 and we got there around noon. This took us about 3 hours roundtrip, plus another 30 minutes chilling at the lake. 

At the lake, started the trail (going clockwise) that loops the actual lake but turned back pretty quickly. Narrow path, overgrown, mostly in the sun. Some bees/bugs. Wasn't worth it to me, would think even harder if you have kids or dogs. Chose to just eat snacks at the nice little spot by the lake instead. If you definitely want to try (and it seems doable), recommend long pants. We didn't need bug spray, but might want it if you do the more overgrown lake loop.

Came a little before 11am on a drizzly Sunday and the main lot had just filled up but the overflow lot was empty.

The trail is very wet and muddy. We were fine with waterproof hiking boots and no poles. There are many parts where you’re straight walking in a stream. Your shoes will get wet and muddy.

The bathroom at the trailhead is open and stocked with toilet paper. I also saw a sign for a toilet at the lake.

Saw some mushrooms and small wildflowers as well. There were a couple of water birds on the lake too. Looking forward to seeing how the trail looks after the trail work is complete. Thanks WTA :-)

We arrived on Sunday at 9:30 and the lot was about half full; it was almost full when we left around 12:30. About half the trail is running water right now. The lake itself is great with a nice boardwalk around.