To get to Little Heart Lake you’ve most likely passed Copper Lake, and while extremely diminutive by those standards, Little Heart is nonetheless an alpine gem and a destination unto itself.
Free loading birds in your backpack the minute you turn around:n=n1 x n2/m2 x f(t²)
THE HIKING
Your journey starts out easily enough, gradually gaining elevation along the Foss River and it’s mostly dry flood channels.
Keep an eye out to your right for Shoestring Falls, descending into the Foss on it’s west bank.
The West Fork Foss River
About a mile in you’ll come to a very well built bridge which, if it’s secretly anthropomorphic, is likely counting the days until the next major flooding event, the likes of which destroyed it’s predecessor.
Counting the days…
Standing on the bridge, you are a little less than a mile down trail from Trout Lake.
Along the remainder of the way there are a couple of points of interest;
One is an absolutely monstrous tree (can’t miss it). If you hike this trail with friends I can guarantee we’ll have one thing in common; a picture of someone standing in front of this tree.
Standard tree photo
The other is marked by a rusted 2-½in pipe crossing the trail. Without going into too much detail; above this pipe, blasted into the flanks of Malachite Peak is the 772′ long Imperial #2 tunnel, and the 112′ Vine Maple Prospect.
Below the pipe, along the banks of the Foss River, is the site of the old Imperial Power Plant. Not much remains, but the occasional rusted metal relic can sometimes be found.
Leavin’ the lake
At Trout Lake take a breather, cast a line or stay the night at one of it’s campsites.
The trail begins to climb significantly after passing the west shore of the lake, almost 2000′ in less than two miles!
Silver Eagle Peak dominates the eastern horizon as you switchback up through mixed forest and shrub. At one point you’ll pass a corner with easy access to a slabby watercourse, great for dipping your head into and refilling empty water bottles.
Get used to seeing this guy
Malachite Falls becomes visible as you gain elevation, it’ll be filling your ears with it’s 618′ of waterfally-ness before you can see it.
You’ll continue to gain elevation, eventually surpassing the waterfall and coming to an intersection with the Lake Malachite trail.
NOTE: You may also notice a sign near here that says “Campfires prohibited beyond this point” This meansALLpoints along this trail beyond this sign(Specifically any point above 4000′)
You can’t “unsee” it
Lake Malachite is only a short, sorta steep hike from here, offering great views, a few campsites, and fishing.
Lake Malachite
Less than half a mile from the intersection you’ll cross a fairytale-esque bridge of perfectly placed boulders before setting eyes upon beautiful Copper Lake.
The popular campsites fill up quick, but the lake is spacious enough to allow some breathing room if that’s what you are looking for.
Straight outta Alice and the Beanstalk
If Copper Lake isn’t your thing, the trail continues along it’s eastern shore towards Little Heart Lake.
Not a whole lot jumps out at you on this section of trail, but you will pass over the tailings pile of a mining prospect at the south end of the lake, and there are a couple of established campsites along the way.
Little Heart Lake seems a little less hospitable by comparison, it’s smaller, and seems crammed into the surrounding rock. Upon first glance, shoreline access also seems extremely limited.
Exploring around however reveals some established campsites, and ample talus shoreline if you are a little more adventurous.
Leaving Little Heart Lake, the trail again begins to climb, gaining a little under 1000ft in a mile, then losing a few hundred feet on the way to Big Heart Lake.
Little Heart Lake
The views through here become more dramatic.
Looking back you’ll see Trout Lake (perhaps bringing back memories of when your legs were not on fire) Delta Lake is down below, Otter Lake peeks at you from across the valley, and then finally Big Heart Lake, shimmering at you through the trees.
The first time you approach Big Heart Lake is likely to stick with you for the rest of your life…
You walk in on top of a little ridge that parallels a small arm of the lake. The water is deep, and bluer than anything you’ve yet seen, not unlike that mysterious fluid barber’s put their combs in.
Morning mist on Big Heart
Here the official trail ends, there are a few campsites available in the immediate area, and a couple more hidden about.
For the ambitious hiker, this may only be the base camp, for there are numerous boot paths leading to many destinations: Angeline and Azurite Lakes, Camp Robber Peak, Chetwoot Lake, you could even make it a loop back down the Necklace Valley.
Beyond the official trail…
The West Fork Foss river trail is your oyster.
Bearing that in mind, leave your oyster better than you found it; pack it in, pack it out, leave no trace, take only pictures, leave only footprints, I’m sure you know them all.
Basically; Don’t be “that guy”.
Happy trails!
THE GETTING THERE
Firstly, I’d suggest driving to Skykomish to procure a pre-hike sandwich, or some campin’ booze at the ever friendly and delicious Sky Deli.
After filling up at Skykomish, head east on the “2” and you’ll pass the Skykomish Ranger Station, keep your eyes peeled for the Foss River Road branching south (right) from the highway. Take it.
Might be wantin’ one of these…
A little over a mile in you’ll pass beneath a gargantuan railroad trestle, and then hit a fork. Stay right.
You’ll pass the Necklace Valley trailhead on your left in another half mile, and a half mile past that is your left turn for the West Fork Foss River Trail#1064. The turn is signed, but can be missed.
Two miles from the intersection and you’ll be there.
The trailhead has ample parking and a pit toilet, but on summer weekends, try and come early because this is a popular trail, and is steadily gaining in popularity with every new Ballard condo.
THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS
Currently a NW trailpass or other qualifying document (America the beautiful interagency pass) is required at the trailhead.
Big Heart Lake
References:
In addition to provided links,
Woodhouse, Phil; Jacobson, Daryl; Petersen, Bill; Cady,Greg; Pisoni, Victor, Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines Vol.1: The West Central Cascade Mountains. Oso Publishing Company, 1997
I went to Lake Francis in July of 2013, and due to the difficulty of getting there, I probably won’t be back for quite some time. I thought though it would be worth regaling to you the tale of Francis Lake.
The map showing Ye olde trailGreen trails makes no mention of “Ye olde trail”
It started with a map, a blue dot and a black line on a map to be more precise. I don’t remember where I found it, online somewhere, but it showed that at some point there was a trail to Francis Lake. I was determined to find it.
Searching the internet brought up some clues, very old trip reports or anecdotes regarding the lake, mostly from fishermen. One of them even mentioned the old trail, which really got my hopes up. So, equipped with the essentials, and my fishing pole I set out one July day towards West Fork Miller river.
The old road is long abandoned now, and has largely been converted into a hiking trail. Some years ago it was very rare to see anyone along it’s grade, but in recent years it has gained some popularity with Boulderers, and don’t quote me on this, but I think it’s slated for new trails with the whole Wild Sky Wilderness expansion.
I’ve spent much time up the Miller river over the years searching for abandoned mines or foraging, so I’m very familiar with the area and the various landmarks. I even tried to find Francis Lake once before, ending up in the gully to the NE of it instead. Reaching the area where the map illustrates the position of “Ye olde trail” was no problem, it is more or less at the same area I like to call the “Coney Cut-off”. This area is where Coney creek meets up with the west fork, or a little before it to be precise.
The trail up WF Miller River
Crossing the creek I found a nice little established camp, and lo and behold, a trail cut through the evil vine maple and bracken that seemed to be going my way! I followed this for a half an hour or better until it became apparent that it went nowhere. I still wonder just who blazed it, and for what purpose. Perhaps another fool trying to get to Francis Lake.
“The creek” Actually West fork miller river
I returned back to the main trail and took a look around, this time deciding to follow the terrain and intuition rather than trying to find the ancient trail. I again crossed the creek, wading through deep, but quite still waters. Upon reaching the other side I started my way up through forest and up the hogback in the approximate position of the trail as illustrated by the map.
At one point I heard a strange buzzing sound, then felt as if my legs were getting warm. Looking down I was shocked to find I was swarmed by little wasps! Shit! I ran, sweeping them off my leg, when I finally felt like they were gone I was surprised to find I only had small welts, with only minor pain. So I carried on.
The route I was taking started to “cliff-out” so I traversed a rather steep slope to try and gain the hillside above the cliffs. It was steep, but thanks to years of cedar branch rock climbing, I was able to best the cliff. I continued to head up through forest and mixed density brush. Soon I began finding semblances of a trail. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Is there anything better?
Following the trail was difficult, sometime impossible, but I continued up, eventually running into the outlet stream and paralleling it as best I could, often running into the odd section of trail. After much climbing I encountered a waterfall, I knew I was close. Climbing it, I could tell the lake was getting closer.
It wasn’t long before I was there. I felt pretty damned accomplished, lemme tell ya.
The outlet falls
The lake is quite beautiful, tucked into a semi-circle crown of mountain tops. I was also surprised that the lake was much bigger than I expected. Upon emerging from the lake’s outlet I came upon an ancient campsite, the fire pit was overgrown, it was obvious that it hadn’t been used in some time. I dropped my pack off there, and started along the shores, fishing rod in hand.
The lake has a very shallow section, with a slab rock bottom and mud with bleached downed logs and aquatic grasses springing out of the waters. This area is found north of the peninsula shown on the map. Working my way around the peninsula I found the waters grow far deeper to the south of it. Shore access also becomes very restricted the further you go.
Alpine beauty
It didn’t take long to catch my 5 trout limit, fishing bucktail spinners through the clear mountain water. They were all perfect pan-sized cutthroats, and I was looking forward to my feast that evening when I heard a crack come from the forest near the outlet. I moved to grab my gear and saw a black bear near the shore across from me. “Shit”, I thought. Usually black bear will run from you the moment they see you, but this one didn’t seem to care.
I decided it was in my best interest to find an alternate way back down, rather than close the distance between me and the bear by trying to exit via the lake outlet. I knew the gully to the northeast, as I’d been up it before. I thought I’d see if it could be accessed. Leaving the lake I plowed through chest deep brush in a north easterly direction. It didn’t take long to find the gully, and no, there was no way to get down the massive cliffs and into the rocky stream bed.
North side of the peninsula
I decided to parallel the gully as best I could, hoping perhaps to find a way to descend into it. I still had plenty of daylight, and worst case, I had the gear to spend the night. Most of the way was pretty straightforward, plowing through dense brush, then into semi open forest. There were only a couple precarious cliffs to descend, or to all together avoid. Before I knew it, I was at the base of the gully, and as luck would have it, stumbled upon an old mining camp I’d been searching for some time previous. Score!
Underwater slabs
My piscean bounty was on my mind again as I made my way to the main trail and back to the old Subaru, and sure enough when I got home I cooked them up and had myself a trout feast.
All in all the trip to Francis Lake was worth it, it was quite an adventure, though I never did find the trail with any certainty. Realistically I probably won’t be back in this lifetime, but who ever really knows.
Piscean num-nums!
If you reader decide to embark on a trip up there, feel free to lemme know, I’ll try and help with directions, and hell, if you want, maybe I’ll even tag along. Happy Trails, Harry Biped
harrybiped 