What a nice jaunt! It was beautiful hike on a late Saturday. We had a seminar in our glacier climbing course in the morning, and then just had to go somewhere and quick before dark, so we chose heather lake as we had done it 3 months prior in December. Since then we have been conditioning, so this was so quick and easy. There were some parts of the trail 3/4 of the way up that had patches of snow, but the real thing to watch for was the ice on the rocks. Much of the upper trail consists of predominantly roots and large boulders in and out of the trail. The ice hides on the rocks and makes it unclear where to step. Further up the trail there was only snow on the trail where it levels out until you get to the lake. The vertical gain on this hike is minimal, and recommended for anyone, as it might be wheelchair accessible (just kidding). You do lose some footage half way up where the trail descends a little bit, but a nice hike up from there. Towards the lake there were patches of ice where the trail almost is like a rollercoaster or bobsled course. Be careful! If you have instep crampons bring them! I decided to use my 12 points for part of the way back to break them in from being brand new and they worked like a charm! We noticed at the lake that some people were actually treading out o the lake that was iced over! There were also many footprints that led quite far off the rim of the shore (which is hard to tell), so don't be stupid, that are rarely people up there that are going to try and save you. Stay safe! Approx time 55min up - 45 min down.

Potholes on road are getting worse. Some hard packed snow at parking lot. The trail was snow free until about 1/2 mile before the lake. Because of foot traffic, it had compacted to solid ice and was real slick! Almost impossible to get up, harder to get down. One tree across trail was easy to get over. About a foot of snow at the lake.

It had been a couple years since I've been back to Heather Lake so I decided to go last Monday(1/22/01). There just isn't any snow!!!! At about the 2300 foot level, you encounter tiny patches and it's pretty much that way to just before the lake. In years past, there would be several feet of the stuff. Trail up to that point is in good condition. Only one blowdown and it was easy to navigate. It was very pretty up at the lake and it was pretty muched frozen over...some free water by the outlet. There is about 1-1.5 feet of snow up here. Some bare patches on the trail around the lake. Be careful!!!! The boardwalks are very slippery if not snow covered due to ice. If it's like it was on Monday, you'll probably not want to try to cross the outlet boardwalks as they were pretty dangerous due to ice! I chose to go back way I came. I only saw one other man and a small party up there so it was nice and peaceful! It would have been nice to have more sun, but the lake is socked in at base of Mt. Pilchuck. Happy Hiking! John M.

Went up on a Thursday and only passed 3 parties. The trail is still open without snow up to within one half mile of the lake. Did not attempt to go around the new trail which circumnavigates the lake. The level of maintenance of this trail is superb. Happy Hiking!

Albeit cloudy this was a great day for a hike. Arrived at 11:15 am to see find a full parking lot and passed large groups up to the lake and back down. If you're looking for solitude, this is not the place to go. But that notwithstanding, it's a beautiful hike. The trail is very well maintained and is 98% in wet and dense forest. There are some muddy spots, several minor stream crossings and snow for the last quarter mile. There's a nice boardwalk at the lake but most of it is still covered by snow. Other than the potholes in the road to the trailhead, there really are no obstacles. By the way, a very similar hike is Lake 22 (#702) a few miles down the road.