Heather Lake — Saturday, Mar. 27, 1999

North Cascades > Mountain Loop Highway

When I arrived at the Verlot Ranger station, at about 9:30am, there was about three inches of snow. At the trailhead about 5-7 inches. I ended up parking about a 1/2 mile below the trailhead because I didn't have 4-wheel drive. We had snowshoes, but didn't bring them, they weren't needed for a majority of the trail. As we climbed in elevation the snow began to get deeper. By time we reached the lake it was between 10 and 15 feet! The view was amazing, even though it was overcast. Most of the lake was covered with snow, and as we sat down to eat lunch it hailed for about 10 minutes. We only passed 4 people on the way up and 4 on the way down. We recomend that you stay on the trail, because of tree wells and other 15 foot holes that can easily escape your vision. Bring a camera and play in the snow!