Heather Lake

On November 4 it looked to be a good day, and we haven't had many of those in October or November.  I decided to do a short hike somewhere and decided on Heather Lake in the Glacier Peak area of the North Cascades.  Heather Lake lies in the shadow of Mount Pilchuck and the hike there is quite easy, around 1000 feet elevation gain over a trail that is less than two and half miles long.

I started early (there was only one other car at the trailhead) and was up at the lake by 8:30, before the sun had risen above the surrounding peaks.  Indeed, the first part of the trail I hiked in near darkness.  The day was mostly overcast and the trail was very wet from recent rains, but hike was enjoyable, especially so now that I haven't been able to get out again due to the weather.

At the lake I hiked the the trail around it, an additional half mile, so I did about 5 miles in all.  The lake was beautiful and though there were no wildflowers left there were a lot of mushrooms and fungi both at the lake and along the trail.  Some of these I photographed on the way back down, since it had been too dark to get photos on the way up.  Even then it was not very easy since the day stayed dull.

Mount Pilchuck

Heather Lake

Mount Pilchuck again

hiking around the lake

Angel Wings

 the far side of the lake

Toy Soldiers Lichens

Oak Loving Collybia (?)

Cedar-shake Liverworts

more Collybias (?)

coming back around the lake

 unidentified mushroom

Lobster Mushrooms

 near the trail

 Mount Pilchuck

more Collybias (?)

Small Staghorn Fungus

stream and small waterfall

stump from logging days

another stream

Angel Wings

unidentified berries

Lake Twentytwo Again

On February 16 my wife was away visiting family and Edward had neither work nor school, so the two of decided to spend the day hiking.  The weather was good and we decided to hike the trail to Lake Twentytwo.  The lake is in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and is on the shoulder of Mount Pilchuck.  It is in a 790 acre Research Natural Area (RNA) created in 1947 to protect a small area of old growth forest.  The trail is noted for its old growth Cedars and Hemlocks and for its many waterfalls.  We not only hiked to the lake but around the lake and had our lunch on a rock on the west side of the lake.  The trail including the walk around the lake is about six and a half miles round trip and there is an elevation gain of 1350 feet to the highest point on the trail which is only 2400 feet, making this a good hike for the off season.  The trail is popular and we forgot that it was a holiday.  We were there early, first up and first down, but on the hike down the trail was very busy.

The Trail and the Trees

 

The Views from the Trail

The Waterfalls

 Around the Lake

Lichens

(I've not been able to identify these)