February 27th, 9:11 a.m. — The rising sun finally crested a long ridge to the east, and sunshine began to filter into the mossy forest around the trail. It seemed like we had the whole valley to ourselves as we walked through the silent forest. We passed a couple of large meadows that would have made nice settings for any igloo. Instead, we opted for deeper snow and better views at higher elevations. There are no spectacular views along the first few miles of the Heart Lake trail. Still, we enjoyed the solitude as we labored up the steep trail. [next photo] View topographic map