Heather Lake- Finally Spring There

Last Sunday, I wanted to hike Mount Pilchuck. I've ben wanting to for awhile, but waiting for it to melt off a bit more.  It still isn't fully, but I figured it was close enough.  It was an overcast morning, and I was bummed that I wouldn't get the famous views, but hoped things would clear off.  As I headed into the hills, it just got mistier.  I had read a trip report that said there were footprints all over in the snow I'd have to cross, and I realized as I headed into a cloud along the dirt road climbing to the trailhead and the visibility dropped to as little as 25 ft, that it wouldn't be a smart hike for me.  I have never done it before, and if it's hard to see where to walk AND your destination is obscured it's just asking to get lost, especially hiking solo.  I had passed the Heather Lake trailhead and have done that one before, so headed back that way.  I was shocked to find only 2 cars in the lot on that very popular trail.  I didn't see a single soul all the way to the lake, then ran into both of the other two parties at the lake as they were heading out.  The trail around had melted off and I had the whole thing to myself all the way around, including stopping to eat my lunch!  It was heaven.

I was surprised when I arrived at the lake to discover that someone had carried in a canoe and left it there.  I try to pick up litter when I hike, but I was not prepared for this bit.  It looked a bit battered and not sea-worthy or I would have waded over and tried it out.

There was a patch of snow at the far end of the lake, but very easy to traverse and you could see the snow still packed up high in the avalanche chutes.  The sound of waterfalls came from everywhere.

Everywhere I looked was a stunning photograph wanting to be taken.  It made me wish I was more talented at it, but I tried to capture a few of them.

Adventure Dog had a great time, and was happier than I was to start running into the people on the way down.  Very few of them had dogs for a change, so he adopted them all and raced up for petting to almost everyone.  It was a great day out, despite not being plan A.