Heather Lake

Today's hike was up in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest going to Heather Lake. It's 2 miles up to the lake and there is a lot of water coming down from Mount Pilchuck and the whole mountain side making for lots of water on the trail and lots of snow in the higher elevations. The upper part of the trail had old-growth cedars, so there are some BIG trees up there. The lake was still partially frozen over and we even heard a small avalanche coming down off of Mount Pilchuck just as we were arriving at the lake. The girls were in the packs a bit more today, but that was mostly because of the terrain - there were some big, slippery steps to take. Without the snow, you can make a loop around the lake that's just over half a mile, but that wasn't going to happen today! Since it's an out-and-back trail, there's no photos on the "down" since it was all the same sights. Kelsi missed out since she was in school, but we have a lot more planned that she'll be dragged on!

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Big Creek Loop Trail No. 827-1

We thought it would be fun to get some more spring hikes done since the weather has been fairly cooperative. For this Sunday hike, we went for the East Olympics and the Big Creek Loop trail near Lake Cushman and Hoodsport off the 101. The total loop is 4.7 miles with quite a few creek crossings which were in full flow with spring run-off from Mount Ellinor and Mount Washington above. The girls had a great time - Bekah did fall asleep in Marty's pack for a little while, but Kimberly was a trooper and walked more than half the hike. It's fun to have them so excited about hiking.

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