Chain Lakes Loop, Ptarmigan Ridge & Artist Point Snowshoe — Thursday, Jul. 15, 2021

¡A note before the trip report!

There are still areas on the trail with significant amounts of snow. While most of them are easily passable, there are about 3-4 areas where you will need to make smart snow travel decisions to avoid steep angles and moats (aka holes you could fall into by rocks and over stream)

We did the entire chain lakes loop with 4 adults and a baby in a pack. The road up to artist point sill be closed apparently for the entire season, so we started at the heather meadows visitor center. We took the trail up to the artist point parking lot and then the road for the last half. The restroom at the top Of the parking lot is still covered in snow.

The trail out to ptarmigan ridge is snow free!

The trail down to Mazama lake is snow covered, then clear the 2nd half.

The rest of the trail to iceberg lake is 99% snow free.

Heading up to Herman saddle, the trail is 2/3 snow free, then the last 1/3 is completely covered in snow but easily passable.

From Herman saddle down to the heather meadows visitor center is primarily snow free, with a few snow areas you’ll need to be careful of.

The hike was not difficult… we did it with a baby and just had hiking boot, no trekking poles. But, we are experienced snow travelers. So use caution in areas where the snow is thin and holes exist.