September 13, 2013 Chain of Lakes trail

Friday the 13th turned out pretty nice.  We went up to the Heather Meadows area between Mt Baker and Mt Shuksan at 5000 feet. Got  a closer view of the glaciers on both peaks. The trail starts at 5,000 feet. Mt Baker is  around 10,000 feet and Mt Shuksan is about  9,500 feet tall. Tree line is much lower here. You can hike in the alpine at 5,000 feet and there is still enough oxygen to breath, unlike the alpine in Colorado that starts around 11- 12,000 feet.

There was fog in the am, this is the sun breaking through. A close up of the glaciers on Shuksan. We saw Shuksan at the head of Baker lake where we were camped last week. 

Glaciers on Mt Baker, we also saw the other side of Baker from Baker lake. Both peaks were farther away at the lake. Looking down this valley you can see a sliver of Baker lake at the bottom. The alpine flora is putting on its fall colors.

We are now in the Mt Baker Snoqualmie wilderness.  John on the trail near the first pass with a view of Mt Baker. You climb up to the pass.

Then you climb down into the lake valley. On the other side of the pass here is Baker with Sitka mountain ash with it’s red berries in the foreground.  You can see the green meadows and waterfalls below the glaciers across the valley. The ridge in front of Baker is Ptarmigan Ridge, with Ptarmigan glacier right below it.  At the pass is the junction with the Ptarmigan Trail that first goes below the glacier, then crosses it and goes above it to the top of the ridge. It has a lot more elevation gain than the Chain of lakes trail.  Our little legs don’t do as well with elevation as they used too. Mountain hemlocks along the trail.

In the meadows of the alpine there are lots of seeps and small babbling brooks, moss and wildflowers. Iceberg lake is below the second pass. There are a string of about 4 lakes you walk by here. Then you hike back up to the pass.

From the second pass looking back  is Baker with Iceberg lake  below. John topping the second pass with a view of Mt Shuksan.

This couple we met at the top ride their motorcycle around to vacation. They wanted their photos taken at the top, and they took ours.

They take photos of their motorcycle Gumby  at scenic locations for their Facebook page.  Looking down the pass on the other side you see the trail and Bagley lake. The Heather mountain visitors center is on the other side of the lake. Artist point were we started the hike is up 700 feet above the visitors center to the right of the photo. Lose 700 feet to the valley and gain it back to the parking lot.

Monkey flowers near a brook in the meadow. Side view of a sun cupped snowfield.

Bagley lake with the water coming from the snowfield.

Bagley lake looking back at the pass. I made a deal with John, if I hiked the Wild Goose trail back up to the car and drove it down and picked him up, he would buy dinner.  Up 700 feet in one mile.  Total of 7 miles and loose and gain 700 feet twice on the hike. I was beat when I got to the car.

Looking back at Bagley lakes and the pass. Bagley lake with autumn foliage  from above.

Mt Baker ski area is below the Heather mountain visitors center. It looks like an awesome ski with lots of  steeps.  It has a average snowfall of 701 inches and a vertical rise of 1,500 feet. It gets the most snow in north America. The town of Glacier, just 24 miles down the road gets mostly rain and no snow in the winter. You can go skiing in deep powder and only deal with about 20 miles of snowy, icy roads. 

John had my camera for a minute and he took our photos. A view of Shuksan reflected in a lake on the way down the pass by the ski area.

Hare bells, seed head, yellow monkey flower, amanita mushrooms, huckleberries, sedimentary rock. Huckleberries lined the whole trail, heavy with fruit, we spent a lot of time browsing on the hike.

A wolf spider, amanita mushroom, pink monkey flower and a huge polypore mushroom-maybe 10 inches across. Nooksak falls. It falls about 100 feet into a rocky crack. Our knees were so beat up from the hike that we could barely make it down to the overlook.

John with dinner at the 9th lift pizza parlor in Glacier. We had chanterelle mushroom soup, made from local mushrooms picked by locals. Chanterelles may be good, but this soup was pretty bland with pieces of rubbery mushroom. We also had spinach, artichoke dip with dipping bread which was pretty so so also. We were tired and hungry, so we ate it all. I was so glad I did not have to cook.