[Allison]

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 Heather Lake. 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 Heather Lake 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 looks great. 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.

[McPilchuck]

Ah, Heather Lake... http://www.alpinequest.com/1lake3link.html