Chain Lakes 2018

From the parking lot

Although it's a long drive up to Heather Meadows where we begin this hike, the weather made it feel like it was midsummer instead of the first week in September. It was warm, even early in the morning, and I knew we would be hiking in full sun today. Not my favorite thing lately.

Thanks to Melanie for the shot

Twelve Senior Trailblazers met for this hike, and after piling into three cars and making our way up the Mt. Baker highway, we walked around one side of Bagley Lake (which is in this picture), and we took a group shot before beginning the long slog up to Herman Saddle. It's around 1,200 feet up in 2.5 miles, so I wasn't kidding. I was also not surprised to find that I was having difficulty, and with my new fitness tracker, I could see that my heart rate was in a dangerous zone when I began to feel ill. Five of the group took off, and the others stayed back with me as we toiled up the steep trail. One person wanted to get back early, so we never saw them again during the entire hike.

Mike, Melanie, Sue, Al

We were almost at the top, at the saddle, when I took this picture. They are looking back at the view and waiting for me. It's become very hard for me for the past three years to hike uphill in the heat. I think it's obvious that I should be with the slower group, and I intend to join them more often in the future.

Mt. Baker and Iceberg Lake

You can see what a beautiful pristine day we had today. There were many other people on the trail with us, since I think everybody wanted to enjoy the late summer outdoors magnificence. We are so lucky to live here!

Iceberg Lake

We stopped for lunch at the lake, with only a few patches of snow to be seen. There are times when the lake lives up to its name, but not today. Richard, who often takes a skinny dip at appropriate places, said there may not be any icebergs, but the water was COLD. You can see someone out in an inflatable raft near the middle of the picture, enjoying a lazy paddle.

One of today's last views of Baker

And then it was time to climb back up the gentle slope to the trail that would take us to Artist Point. This is a loop hike and gives us great views of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. As we rested at the top before heading to Artist Point, Melanie took this picture of me.

Me in front of Mt. Shuksan

It's a beautiful mountain, and from where I'm sitting, I had Shuksan at my back and could gaze right at the glory that is Mt. Baker. It was such a beautiful day that, as we reached this place, there were many, many other hikers and sightseers all around us.

Trail to Artist Point

If you look carefully, you can see lots of people on that trail. Most of them were taking a trip from the nearby parking lot, about a mile away. Once we got there ourselves, we still had to navigate the Wild Goose trail back to our starting point. Although this is not an especially long hike, it was definitely a challenge for me. In about 7+ miles, we climbed and descended around 2,500 feet.

White and pink flowers in abundance

Just before we got to Artist Point, I saw these beautiful white flowers, with pink fireweed along with them, to show how beautiful it is up there today. We are now all home and recovering, and now it's time for me to have that well-earned glass of wine!
:-)