Mountain Loop Highway - Heather Lake Trail

Our second excursion was along the Mountain Loop Highway.  The campgrounds were full, but we were prepared and not scared so we "roughed it" along the highway at a small turn off area, that was obviously used for that purpose.  That night, I learned how noisy and resourceful mice can be.  Not only did they scratch and dig at my tent most of the night, but they squeaked, chirped, and sounded like they were jumping off trees onto the top of my tent to scrabble around up there.  I didn't get a lot of sleep, and in the morning I found they had gotten into my car and eaten some of Cedar's food.  There were other louder noises that night, although I think it was just deer, and I also realized that Cedar is small (bear bait LOL) and that a tent is actually very thin.  It was a little sobering.

The next day I went on the Heather Lake Trail, which was stunningly gorgeous and if you hit it early, you can have it mostly to yourself, even on a July weekend. 

The trail switchbacks somewhat gradually uphill about two miles through some lovely forest and comes out at... you guessed it, Heather Lake. 

The trail is rough, so if you do this one, be prepared for large pointy rocks and roots making up large pieces of the trail. It was a great hike for me, the 1^st in awhile that was outside the city, as it taught me a lot.  One thing is that a hike is different than a walk.  I walk almost 2 ½ miles each day at my lunch hour with a group of ladies I work with, and we take quite a fast pace and go up some sizable hills, but this was still far more strenuous.  The second is the importance of good gear.  When I visited my Dad previously, he had given me a backpack, because I didn’t have one.  My ex got all the backpacks LOL.  I was glad to have it for the lunch, water, and dog clean-up bags, etc, but it was not built for hiking with and the straps rubbed on my neck funny.  I have since bought a better pack, and I am certainly no expert, but later will maybe do a section on gear, and gear-related lessons I’ve learned being in the outdoors and with a dog.
There were some huge trees on the Heather Lake trail, and one had taken up gardening for a hobby.  Great philosophy… why wait until you’re dead and be a nurse log, when you can care for other plants while you’re alive?  This tree had huge knots sticking out of it, with moss and bushes growing on top of them.  On one knot there was even another small tree growing out of it!  I’m not sure how long that will last before its weight is embraced by the force of gravity, but it was certainly interesting. 

I went early-ish in the morning, so the mist was just rising up off the hills, an effect I take great pleasure in.  The trees made the trail all cool with those greenish shadows you get under a forest canopy.  When you reach Heather Lake, the trail splits, and you can go either way, because the maintained trail actually circles the entire lake.

It's nice to see it from all angles, and the rocky slopes rising around the lake are dotted with distant waterfalls.

We spent quite awhile looking at the wildflowers, the lake, a cheeky pica, and the evidence of an avalanche that had taken out a section of trees. 

When we turned back down the trail, there were tons of people coming up...huge groups of them so it wasn’t as peaceful, but nice to say “hi” to friendly people out enjoying nature.  Another thing that is noteworthy is that you might think, like I did, that going downhill is easier.  Not really.  Especially with a dog… Cedar pulled at the leash and those rocks and roots, now slick with water from the small streams and rivulets that cross the trail, were pretty hazardous.  I didn’t fall, but I struck an odd pose now and then as I flailed and caught myself.  It was hard to get the dog to slow down.  Having four feet must be nice.

We had packed up our camp that morning, so as not to just leave it along the highway for robbers and the mice, and went to find a different spot.  This time we pulled off right on a river, where the Mountain Loop Highway is a dirt road.  Yes, it does show that on the map.  Had I noticed it prior to actually driving on it?  Nope- I read “highway” and made an assumption. 
This was a lovely campsite, and I soon had a steak on my tiny grill and some potatoes roasting in the fire.  Yes, the steak was done long before the potatoes.  These are things you must learn by doing, right?  The tent was set up and everything.  I was reading a book while I cooked.  Unfortunately the book I was reading, and finished that evening, was Lord of the Flies.  I’m doing classic literature I missed in school…but that’s another story.  Anyway, here I am all alone with a micro-mutt in the woods by a river which would drown out any sounds, and no other campers within sight.  If you haven’t read Lord of the Flies, let me just say that it is an interesting story questioning how civilized people really are which gets gradually creepier, culminating in the end with some rather horrific scenes involving homicidal children. 
So I ate my steak, told Cedar that we weren’t chickens, since we had already spent a night among the wild mice, and there was no shame in packing it in.  Which we did.  : )