West Fork Foss River and Lakes — Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015

Central Cascades > Stevens Pass - West

First time I have done this hike, and it is now one of my new favorites. 5 lakes for the price of 1! Its a pretty hard hike at times so maybe 5 lakes for the price of 2 is more accurate. Was unfortunate there was so much forest fire smoke as to put everything in a bit of a haze, but still worth it. I did see about 100 people on the hike, but spread out over the 15 miles I was meandering is much less than other hikes. Not much to add that hasn't been covered in other reports. Trout lake was unimpressive for me, I wouldn't make this a destination unless I was with kids. From talking to other people on the hike I guess its common for people to skip Malachite lake. This is a shame since Malachite lake is just as pretty, if not more so than Copper lake. If I was camping I would have rather camped at Malachite than Copper any day. While its only 3300 feet net elevation gain, this is a little deceiving. If proceeding to Big Heart lake from Copper lake, you gain 800 feet elevation, then drop another 350-400 feet of elevation to get to the lake. Overall round trip I'd say too Big Heart lake and back to the trail head was about 4000 feet total elevation climbed.