*542 has been repaved and is smooth as butter* Left Bellingham around 6:30am. We decided to start from the Picnic area parking lot, just a short way past the first road sign you see that says "chain lakes trailhead -->" We made it up there at 8:15am, including the obligatory stop at wake n' bakery for a coffee and muffins. We were the only car in this lot upon arrival. It was about 44 degrees and the sun was just starting to kiss jagged peaks. From the upper parking lot of the picnic area, we headed up the (well marked) Wild Goose trail towards Artist Point-- now initially, after reading the description, my thought was that it would be best to take the counter-clockwise route. But we instead followed some advice of friends and went with the clockwise option, which turned out to be the BETTER CHOICE FOR US. It was seemed like a whole lot of reward with minimal work. The most challenge came from the at times, rocky terrain. Keep those ankles strong guys! Anyway... Started from Wild Goose TH @ 8:15am The beginning of the trail was spectacular, we saw a few marmots, Baker and Mama Shuks in full glory. Table MT and Ptarmigan towering above. The breeze was perfect and the fall colors were vibrant. We didn't encounter any other hikers until we dropped down to the first, smaller lake. All the lakes were insanely beautiful. We kept stopping just to turn a full 360! The is no shortage of views! OH AND THE BLUEBERRIES are going off! The ascension to the Saddle was cake. We once again thanked ourselves for choosing this route. The way down towards Bagley lakes (and back to the picnic area parking lot) is where we started to see lots of people coming up those switch back. Yikes. We were so thankful that we came the other way because climbing that did not look like a fun way to start, especially with the lack of eye candy from that vantage. We enjoyed the countless streams and the stone bridge leading us back to the parking lot. Arrived at car at 12:45pm.

We arrived at the lower trail head around 9:30 to find a light to medium rain had settled in. There were only two other vehicles in the parking lot. After donning our rain gear, including a rain jacket on the beagle, we set off on wild goose trail to get the steep uphill portion out of the way. The berries were ripe along the trail and delicious. There were some spur trails which made us hesitate a few seconds before choosing the path that went upward toward artist point/ paralleled the road. Overall, wild goose trail was marked by wild goose tarns. Some of the dirt on the ~150 log steps had eroded, making a few of the steps tricky. A ptarmigan ran by into the underbrush. The rain came down harder, but we pressed on to the artist point parking lot. There were no views from artist point. We were going to hike table mountain first, but realized dogs were not allowed, so we instead proceeded on to chain lakes loop. There were approximately 15 people heading the counter clockwise direction and quite a few people out doing trail maintenance (Thank You!). Slightly after the junction with ptarmigan ridge, the trail was a little confusing: head toward the saddle and then stay to the middle of the saddle. There were still a few snow fields at iceberg lake. There were quite a few active pikas and two marmots around in the rocks. There were two different ways to cross bagged lake: a twin arched cement bridge or a former spillway bridge. We chose the spillway: it was interesting to see the substructure exposed and lots of water flowing. Other than the rain and clouds, a good day.

This was an overnight, lasso-shaped loop of Chain Lakes and Ptarmigan Ridge. Somehow we had never been to either. Set out around 11 a.m. Aug. 13 from Bagley Lakes trailhead, where early mountain views — Tomyhoi! Larrabee! Goat! — soon shift focus to Shuksan, then Baker. The giant parking lot was less than half full on a mostly sunny Saturday. Yet the beaten trail itself was crowded with kids, dogs, elderly folks, and big groups. Once we crossed Herman Saddle the people diminished, but we never felt even close to alone. The Chain Lakes below were bugged by flies but dreamlike in beauty, especially Iceberg: teenagers jumping off tall rocks into the water; one older guy fishing from an inflatable boat; bizarre craggy cliffs all around. And more views of Baker around the corner at Mazama Lake. At a gentle pace, refueling on water once, we hit the junction to Ptarmigan Ridge around 2 p.m. The ridge trail opens with descending switchbacks, a short sturdy steep snowfield or two, then an ascent along surreal moon-like volcanic rock and more exhausting uphill snowfields. The trail flattens out, ringed with meadow grass and blooming purple lupine. Many people camped in those first 1 ½ miles, where there’s snow for water, the campsites are broken in, and the views of the North Cascades are already amazing. We wanted to see where the trail led, though. So we marched another 2 ½ miles or so, over rock and intermittent snow, to something resembling solitude at Camp Kiser, as Baker grew bigger, and grander, and more majestic. We pitched a tent beside an illegal campfire ring, behind trees that sheltered the wind, a good distance from everyone else on the plateau. Right by our camp we had a trickle of a snowmelt stream, deep enough to pump water, when needed. Around 5 p.m. we took off for the Portals, and while most maps say there’s no trail, it’s well-established. All along that ridgeline are camps with amazing views, and while water is scarce, there’s lots of snow to melt. (But not much to cross.) No one camped above the first ridge — and I wonder why, because the highest sites have the best views. We hit the trail terminus around 6:30 p.m., hung out for a bit, and climbed back hungry for dinner. We barely stayed up for leftover Perseid meteors. Woke up to sun rising behind Mount Redoubt, and after packing up, we decided to tackle the Coleman Pinnacle. We took a direct, steep, sketchy route from the plateau — I don’t know if there’s another — leaving behind all but one pack with water and a camera. The scramble is a little dicey, with loose boulders and certain death below, but we made it. The top was the highlight of the hike. Lowlight was the trek back down. Halfway back to the junction, another group pointed out a mountain goat along the ridgeline, very close, that we’d been oblivious to. Rest of the hike out was hot, and the Artist Point parking lot was packed. Wild Goose trail hugged the highway, and crossed busy parking lots (twice) and the busy road (once). Finished the loop for a total of, let’s say, 20 miles. Overall, great hike.

I did an awesome overnighter with some close friends. We started out by quickly doing Table Mountain. This offered some beautiful views but was pretty taxing on some of our less physically fit friends. Then we grabbed our gear and started hiking in on the Chain Lakes Loop. After setting up camp on the far side of one of the lakes about 3 miles in, we enjoyed great weather that night. The next day we finished out the hiking and went for a swim at the lake by the lower parking lot. All and all it was an amazing experience. But the final push on the Wild Goose trail was particularly brutal with our packs. I would plan to possible send some to get the car or park in the lower lot to begin with. I look forward to doing this again.