The clouds grew darker as I started the walk down the western shore of Heart Lake. I hadn't seen anybody other than the hotpotter in Witch Creek so far on the trip, and it looked like the western shore campsites were all deserted. For a few hundred feet after crossing Witch Creek, the trail follows the shoreline, crossing the drainage streams of the Rustic Geyser basin. Then, just before reaching the first campsite, 8H6, the trail climbs up a little ways above the lake to reach the trailhead for the Mt. Sheridan trail. The trailsign mentions that there is a foodpole located a short distance up the trail, a handy feature for dayhikers that wish to shed some weight before starting the 3.9 mile climb.

In a sense, this is where this trip really started. It seemed that up to this point that I was rushing down the trail trying to race the rain or snow to the campsite, with little attention being given to my surroundings. There is something about hiking down the western shore of Heart Lake in threatening weather late in the season that really grabs your attention. The trail dips and bobs across the low ridges along the bottom slopes of Mt. Sheridan, passing through a long stretch of burned over country that bears a striking resemblance to some photos that I've seen of interior Alaska. Bear sign is everywhere - scat, tracks, and scrubbed-off hair on some of the saplings along the trail.