6/4, Sunday. Cloudy. Lured by a mostly sunny forecast, headed to Mount Pilchuck in thick clouds, hoping for an amazing 360° view later in the afternoon. Last time I came here, it was 8 years ago.
First half of the trail is rock and some mud. Then it's soft snow and occasionally big boulders. I used micro-spikes, but probably not necessary. Trekking poles are definitely useful. Half of the people on the slope today didn't use any traction device. A few skiers. The door to the Lookout is open, but shutters are down, so you cannot see any view from the inside. Walk around the deck, and then go in to consult the name of the peaks. For us, it's too cloudy to see much. Little wind today. Pleasant temperature. Walked east to a ledge, where skiers were going down the gully. One dog refused to go down the steep slope. His owner had to backtrack up and then walk down with her dog, who also has problem on boulders. On the way down, she and a few of us went down a bit too much (me on my butt glisading), and lost the track. Had to consult my GPS map to climb backup to the trail. Despite the overhanging dark clouds, the hike was fun, certainly more interesting than the dust of summer.
The access road to Mt Pilchuck is mostly gravel (~7 miles with potholes). However, after the sign of "Damaged Road", it is paved, just old pavement. This is the same access road (~1.4 miles) to Heather Lake. So when we drove by on the way in, the parking lot was overflowing. On the way out, there were only about 5 cars. It was close to 6pm. Only 2 miles to the lake. Dry trail soon turned into water and mud. Lots of rocks, and dead trees. Snow appeared as you come down towards the lake basin. The lake is beautiful as ever. Just not many places you could stand close to the shore, either swamping or bushy. The boardwalk was mostly under snow. A duck couple.Sun set on the way back to I-5. Now the sky is clear of clouds. A bit too late!
