I arrived at the Heather Lake parking area around 7:30 AM today to meet my hiking group and there were already several cars there, but I was able to get a spot very close to the trailhead. The privy is in good shape and a Northwest Forest Service pass is required to park. The road is in pretty good shape but there are some deeper potholes near the parking area. They are easier to avoid early in the morning because you can swerve around them but more difficult in the afternoon today because cars were parked on both sides of the road when I left around 1:30 and I was not able to swerve as much. Just take it slow and you should be fine.
The trail itself is....interesting. The first half mile or so is gently graded, wide, and mostly gravel. There are a few trees down on or over the trail, but everyone in my group was able to get around them. After the first half mile, the trail becomes mainly dirt, with large rocks and so...many...roots. There is a steep uphill grades in places and also several places with poor drainage, so water is running down the trail as you are heading up. We were able to walk over the sections with water on the trail as we headed up to the lake, but you will want footwear with good traction because many of the large rocks are wet and therefore slippery. Nearly everyone in my group used at least one trekking pole and most had two. Most of the water and mud on the trail are on the sections closer to the lake. We also noticed several sections of the trail that are missing steps, which meant that most people in my group had to take abnormally large steps or climb around the steps to navigate the area. After starting around 8 AM, my group made it to the lake around 10:15.
At the lake, we found a couple of spots to take in views of the lake and surrounding mountains and rest a bit. Our group opted not to hike the loop around the lake. We headed back down the trail around 11 AM and were back to the cars around 1:15 or so. The rocks and roots were difficult to get through on the way back down, mainly because the rocks were slippery and we wanted to take our time to be safe. Strava measured the round trip hike to be about 5 miles, with no loop at the lake.
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