Short hike around a pretty basin with interpretive signs throughout. There were a few snow crossings of less than six feet - not difficult to cross. Good views of some of the other hikes and mountains in the area. The path starts by the visitor center.

We spent three days at The Mountaineers Baker Lodge on this weekend and completed several hikes. This was one of four over three days in the area. The evening was nice and warm and we started our hike about 6pm. There was no one on the trail at this time which made it really enjoyable. Lots of wildflowers blooming right now. We had some passing rain showers which created some nice rainbows and moody clouds that made for some nice photos.

The trail was in great shape. We hiked half of the Bagley Lakes Loop (the more rugged side) then crossed the stone bridge and did a loop on the Fire & Ice trail. To complete our trip, we hiked back to the trailhead on the Lower Wild Goose trail. All trails were in great shape. We finished our hike up around 8pm to a glowing Mt. Shuksan. 

The snow has all melted and the full Fire and Ice loop trail is dry and hikeable. Lots of beautiful wildflowers blooming and the views are awesome. At 2pm on a sunny Sunday I was surprised at how much parking was available. There are three parking lots at Heather Meadows Visitor Center and they all had spaces open.

Our family is hiking the month of August to raise funds for WTA's Hike-A-Thon so that the trails can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. Please consider contributing, every $ helps! https://give.wta.org/Jenchilada2022

#hikeathon #teamtacosformiles

We arrived at the Bagley Lakes parking area around 1:00 PM and were able to immediately find a parking spot near the trailhead and privy. It's not obviously marked but the Bagley Lakes Trail starts just to the left and slightly behind the privy. The parking area was about 3/4 full by the time we arrived-not bad for a beautiful holiday Monday. 

Our outbound route started on what we later discovered was the Chain Lakes Trail, which runs along the west side of the lakes. The trail is in great shape aside from a little mud in places and offers grand views of the surrounding scenery. We followed the trail to a fork just past the second lake and decided to go left and descend into the rockfield below Table Mountain, thinking that the trail continued through the rockfield because we saw people walking there and seemingly ending up on the opposite side of the lake (thus creating the loop). Our determination turned out to be incorrect-we discovered that the trail peters out in the rockfield and you are left to your own devices to cross the rocks, creeks, and moss to get to the other side of the lake. 

After crossing the rockfield, we started looking for any evidence of the trail on the other side. We eventually found a trail by watching people coming down into the rockfield from the other side. It turns out that the trail we found was the Fire and Ice Trail, which is a paved loop that starts at the Heather Meadows Visitors Center. After consulting a map, we refound the Bagley Lakes Trail and followed it along the east side of the lakes back to the parking area for our inbound route. The "official" trails we hiked were in great shape with no obstacles to speak of other than occasional mud. The trails are rocky and rooty so boots and poles are helpful. There are patches of wildflowers left and as previous reports have noted, blueberries are plentiful along the trail. 

After our hike at Bagley Lakes, we decided to hike the short Artist Ridge trail at Artist Point. We arrived there around 4:30 and there were spots available in the parking lot. The trail is in good shape save for some mud in spots. We lingered a bit taking in the views-Shuksan and Baker were looking beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. Altogether, we figured these two hikes to be about about 4 miles in total, given that we walked a little extra through the rockfield on the Bagley Lakes loop. 

The plan was to wake up this morning and drive to Mount Baker and hike the Fire and Ice Trail, Lake Ann, Table Mountain Trail and Artist Point Ridge. 

I woke up late so naturally, I got a late start out the door. When I arrived at Austin Pass for my first hike on the Fire and Ice Trail, HWY 542 was already pretty packed with cars, back packers walking around and day hikers just getting their day started. 

I was still able to find parking at the Fire and Ice trailhead but I already knew Lake Ann was not going to happen today. I wasn't all that disappointed because I've hiked nearly all of the Lake Ann trail sans making it to the lake. But I did want to finish it today. The trail was in great shape, minimal people, (but that would change mid-day) and a chilly 52 degrees with some wind. The 0.5 mile loop was really interesting and the reader boards provided a lot of information, too. 

After completing the Fire and Ice trail, I passed by the Lake Ann trailhead and it was lined with cars. Up HWY 542 and down. I'd have to come back another day, I suppose.