I always know adventure awaits when there isn't a recent WTA report for a trail. And I was certainly correct on this one! 

General thoughts:

If you don't want to read my full report, that's understandable. Key takeaways: DOWNLOAD OFFLINE MAPS!!!! I can't stress this enough. Some parts of this trail are not going to melt out anytime soon. The bootpath is pretty easy to follow, with one exception, and I would still be out there wandering if I didn't have Gaia downloaded. Be prepared for lots of slippery snow and sketchy snow bridges. Bring your bravery and be prepared for an excellent adventure! I had spikes with me, but never put them on. There is so much snow, but the fields are very intermittent. I would have been taking them off, putting them on alllll day. So this will very much have to be a personal choice based on your comfort level. Some bugs, but not bad yet.

My route and adventures:

I did this clockwise, starting at Bagby Trailhead. 6 am start meant I had plenty of solitude. Right away things got interesting on the Wild Goose Trail. Lots of snow, and it wasn't always terribly apparent where the trail was. However, for the most part, there were footprints to follow. One part was particularly sketchy...leading up to the Lake Ann TH, the trail traverses a slightly steep and slippery snow field. 
I managed to survive the journey to Artist Point. Since it was still early, I decided to hit up Artist Ridge Trail to the viewpoint. This trail was probably about 50% snow-covered. Once up near Huntoon Point, the trail system devolves into a maze, so one is just left to kinda to choose their own adventure. Outstanding vistas of Baker, Shuksan, and the valleys. 

Then it was time to hit up the Chain Lakes! The trail picks up again from the Artist Point parking lot. Along the ridge was not too bad. Some patchy snow, but not terrible. Once at the saddle, the trail turns to complete snow. The descent down to the first lake was a bit tricky since it was very icy; however, the bootprint trail was easy to follow. I just had to take it slow and be aware of snow bridges. 

Before the first lake was an interesting moment. There is a rather large iceberg/chunk of ice/snow that is completely blocking the trail. There is a sheer dropoff, so you cannot go down and around. The only way is to go behind it, but unfortunately, there is a rock wall there. It's a short section thankfully, but it is challenging. I think dogs would have a very hard time with this. There is no trail (remember, the iceberg is directly on the trail), and it is very narrow, muddy terrain. An athletic, brave dog might be okay, but just be aware. Like I said, it is large, so I think it will be awhile before it melts. I almost turned back, but I'm glad I kept going!

The lakes themselves...some are starting to thaw and some are completely thawed. The trail meanders through the various lakes. It's about 50% snow-covered and 50% bare. Overall, very scenic. Still few bugs.

Then it was time to climb again. After I passed Iceberg Lake and Hayes Lake, the bootprints led me astray. They got very faint and then disappeared. I thought I was sorta following some faint ones, but after awhile, I took out Gaia, and nope. I was way off trail. This involved some bushwacking and breaking trail even when I found the trail again. Perhaps the winter route is different than what is shown on Gaia. Anyway, I eventually made it up to where one has to climb a steep slope, full of mashed potato snow. It was exhausting in the hot sun! I chose my own path, since the bootprints once again had become faint. The trail would pop out from under the snow every once in awhile. 

At long last, I reached the top of Herman Saddle, and what a welcome sight it was! Baker, Shuskan, and the trail down!!! Woohoo! It would be smooth sailing down, after all my hard work, right? 
Wrong. It was mostly smooth, but the trail still had some snow coverage that was melting fast, leaving, you guessed it, snow bridges!!! It was here that I sunk in my first one of the day. So, use caution! It's only going to get worse until it is completely gone. I ran into some people ill-prepared for the conditions, so please make sure you are ready for snow and a hot ascent (if you are doing this counterclockwise).

I stopped at the visitor center on the way back. Nice place with some history! Overall, this was absolutely an incredible hike with so many epic views that my brain has turned into a puddle of love and hearts for this state I am so fortunate to call home. 

Beautiful moody PNW day! This hike is rocky, with lots of up and downs, and fantastic views throughout. We parked in overflow parking, what Google calls the Bagley Lake Parking around 10:30 (Labor Day weekend Sunday with questionable weather) and the lot was less than 10% full. Ripe berries (huckleberry I think) were everywhere on just about every section of trail and they were delicious! The pika and marmots were out too. 

Route Options: We chose the go counterclockwise, but I think from this lot either would be fine. Clockwise has stairs going up for the majority of the elevation gain and counterclockwise has long gradual switchbacks for most of the elevation gain, so your choice is basically stairs up or stairs down. If you start from the Artist point parking area I would recommend counter clockwise, because otherwise you will end with the big stair climb, which could be a bit of a brutal ending. 

Baglay Lake: Our hike started around Lower Baglay Lake, going around the west side. There is a loop around the lake and the east side looked manicured and quite flat, which the west side was rocky with a nicer view with the backdrop of Table Mountain. After the tip of the lake the switchbacks start and as you slowly climb above the lake Shuksan emerges. Today its glaciers were a stunning icy blue. There were lots of people (probably the most kids and dogs I have seen) on this section of trail all the way up to the saddle at the top. At the top you can see Shuksan on one side and Baker on the other. Baker was mostly hiding in the clouds today. We stopped there for lunch and enjoyed watching the clouds swirl around Shuksan. 

Baker View Section: As you go down the back side of the saddle and around Table mountain to where the trail crosses Ptarmigan Ridge, you get more views of Baker (or opportunities for it to pop out of the clouds) and lots more lakes. I really liked the cute little pool above the first lake. The crowds were much thinner here. There were a few tents pitched around the lakes and a camp toilet between Iceberg and Hayes Lake. We saw a bunch of rock here that almost looked manmade and looked to be hexagonal basalt columns. We saw a couple pikas and marmots here, including an adult with a juvenile. 

Ptarmigan Ridge to Artist Point: The trail got more crowded again here. Baker wasn't out, so we skipped walking down the ridge a little way and headed back toward Artist Point. The trail followed a nice ridge cut along the side of Table Mountain. The sweeping side of the mountain were beautifully colored, nearly bare of vegetation, and showed signs of frequent avalanches. Pika and marmot hung out in the rocks above and below us. The Artist Point parking area was packed. 

Wild Goose Trail: From Artist Point we followed Wild Goose back to the car. I would say this was the one confusing area where we kept checking out maps. There were a couple spots where you have to cross the parking lot and road. There is some signage, but there are trails going every which way and while many meet up again, others don't. It was a pretty walk with lots of steep stairs taking us rapidly back down. We enjoyed berries along the way and a few glimpses of Shuksan's glaciers, although the peak was now shrouded in fog. 

Facilities: There were bathrooms in all of the parking areas. All of them that were sampled were high traffic and pretty smelly. Most were not stocked, so bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. 

Road: It is winding but fully paved all the way up to the parking lots. The link below is for what it is like in the winter. In the summer the snow isn't acting as a natural guard rail and you have much better views. 

Stats: Total time 4.5 hours, with lots of berry picking and eating! Moving time about 3.75 hours, 7.4 miles, 1.8k elevation gain. 

Wow, what a great loop. This loop has been on my list to hike for several years and I'm so glad I was able to check it off. We started our hike at the Mountaineers Baker Lodge where we were staying for the weekend. We hiked the loop counterclockwise in hopes of the clouds clearing to see Mt. Baker later in the day. We started around 8am and there were around 20 cars in the Bagley Lakes parking lot. Most appeared to have been there overnight but there were some day hikers too.

We spent the morning in the clouds up to Herman Saddle. The grade to the saddle was pleasant and we crossed several small creeks running. I can only imagine what the view must be like at the top on a clear day. The clouds started clearing out once we started our descent into the lakes basin. The views of Iceberg Lake were very pretty. I loved walking through the area between Iceberg Lake and Hayes Lake but the mosquitoes were pretty bad when you stopped here. I'll have to come back to explore this area more in a backpack trip because it is so beautiful! 

Once we got around the opposite side of Iceberg Lake the crowds started. There were amazing wildflowers and people were trampling them near the shoreline. Sad to see this happening. People were also crowding near the outlet of Iceberg Lake where there's a great view of Herman Saddle. Sooo many people. We didn't stick around and continued hiking to try and find a less crowded place to have lunch. The Mazama Lakes were also beautiful and this area didn't appear to be as crowded with day hikers. On our ascent out of the lakes basin not very many people were yielding to us hiking uphill. Day hikers and backpackers alike were ignoring us when we mentioned that its common hiking etiquette to yield to uphill hikers. Thank you to those of you who did yield! We breaked for lunch at the top of the long uphill ascent where the uncourteousness continued. A group of about 20 people arrived and started yelling and taking selfies on the rock ledges. Our group endured it and they moved on thankfully. Boy was that a loud group! 

We finished out our hike by way of the Upper Wild Goose trail and hiked back down to Heather Meadows. The Upper Wild Goose trail was not a trail that I would care to repeat anytime soon. The stairs were so steep! I'm glad we were going down them because going up must be miserable. Since many in our group had hiked the day prior on half of the Bagley Lakes Loop, we finished the flatter other half back to the trailhead. All trails were in great shape and snow free. We finished our hike back around 3pm then went to get ice cream at the little store in Heather Meadows. 

This area is finally accessible and I am so happy. We have waited 4 years to come back and this area is probably the prettiest place on the planet. 

We set out to do Chain Lakes Loop in its entirety. Many reasons why we did not-

1- we set out too late. You need to arrive here way before noon or you won’t have time.
2- It was difficult to evaluate the snow situation that would be beyond the mountain pass. I have had moments here that are inches away from death. So when we came back I evaluated the snow and steepness with more seriousness. Many people were walking above a snow deposit with ice caves that had running water. Don’t be that person. There is tons of snow here with running waterfalls and lakes beneath. 

So Chain Lakes didn’t happen but Bagely Lakes and Wild Goose did. (And other ones). 

There are TONS of little trail offshoots here. We got lost so many times. Most trails connect to larger trails or the road so you won’t be stranded but we did get mixed up and frustrated. 

No wildlife sightings but we did see cougar prints in snow. Bear spray is a must. 

Everyone on trail was extremely kind and looked just as happy as we were to be there. This is an area that is beyond how words can describe. The first time I did chain lakes loop was the best day of my life. When you come be respectful, don’t leave trash and have an open mind to all of the possibilities in the area. 

PS there is a BURN BAN here right now but campfires are ok. Please consider the fact that campfires are still dangerous in dry arid conditions and also leave an ugly mark on the environment. Bring a isobutane kit and enjoy the stars instead? :) 

Headed up to the Heather Meadows/Artist Point area for a bit. There's still quite a bit of snow, particularly as you get farther up. Roads were snow free through Heather Meadows, and the road is clear up to Artist Point, but as you drive up to Artist Point, remaining snow coverage is probably 6+ feet tall at the top. The privy up at Artist Point is pretty much entirely covered still. 

Farther down around Heather Meadows and Bagley Lakes, there's far less snow, but still some snow fields to cross. I only went a little ways on the Chain Lakes Loop around the Bagley Lakes/Heather Meadows area due to the snow. There's small fields on the trail that are pretty crossable lower down (just look out for deceptively unstable snow bridges), then as you start climbing toward the saddle it becomes much more prominent. Bagley Lakes is still pretty frozen over but starting to show signs of thaw.

I also made a stop at Picture Lake, which is solidly snow free.