My two take-aways from this hike: I need to hike more in the fall as the colors were incredible and why has it been almost 10 years since I’ve been to this place.
Route: This was a 12 mile CCW route which includes the Chain Lakes Loop and an out-and-back section along the Ptarmigan Ridge. The route starts and ends at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center.
alltrails route: https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/m ... af6424?u=i
I wanted to get to the start by sunrise, so I left Seattle at 3:30 AM and made the drive up north. I made good time and got to a section along the road where I could record a time-lapse over Mt Shuksan. Once the time-lapse was over, I parked the car at the Heather Meadows Visitor Center and set off around 8AM.
I decided to do the route CCW. With the sun at my back, I hiked along along Bagley Lakes and Creek. There are good views of Table Mountain here. Once you pass the Bagley Lakes you begin the short ascent up to Herman Saddle. The views really begin here with Shuksan and Bagley Lakes behind and Mt Baker and Iceberg Lake in front. After Herman Saddle, the trail descends to Iceberg and Hayes Lakes. Eventually, you get near Mazama Lakes and then there is another ascent before connecting to the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail. This of course is an out-and-back where you get up close to Mt Baker. The views along this trail are very good as you are up high above tree line.
After Ptarmigan, I connected back up to a short busy section of Chain Lakes Trail to Artists Point. Once at Artists Point, you follow the Wild Goose Trail back to Heather Meadows. Connecting up to Wild Goose can be a little confusing but if you follow the all trails route you won't miss it. All in all, this was an enjoyable hike. It's easy to see why it's so popular.
