In early October, Radmilla, a friend from BCMC, invited us to join her family in hiking the Chain Lakes Loop in Washington. She shared a picture of the trail from a Facebook forum; the fall colours were spectacular. We decided to leave early on Saturday, October 5, as it would be a busy weekend.
A National Forest Day Pass is required per car, so we bought the Day ePass online. We left home around 7:15 am and were at the Sumas US border in half an hour. It was busier than I expected, and it took us about 30 minutes to cross the border.
We arrived at the Austin Pass Picnic Area parking lot (1350 m) around 9:30 am. The Chain Lakes Loop hike has multiple trailheads, and Artist Point is the biggest, but it is also the busiest. We mainly parked at the Austin Pass Picnic Area to do the uphill hike to Herman Saddle first.
Radmilla’s friend Hans and his daughter joined us shortly afterward. We had four adults and four kids in our group. After a quick stop at the restrooms, we started our hike from the Fire and Ice trailhead.
Chain Lakes Loop Trail
The trail drops down for about 50 m to Bagley Lake and then has a 300 m climb to Herman Saddle. As we hiked around the Bagley Lake, we had Table Mountain in the background. The stone bridge over the stream was beautiful.
Once we made our way up the switchbacks, we could see Mount Shuksan and the views just got better till we reached the Herman Saddle (1650 m). Along the way, the kids took long breaks picking blueberries.
We had views of both Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan from Herman Saddle. After a short break, we continued our hike and descended to Hayes Lake (1450 m), where we took our lunch break.
From here, the trail continues around the Iceberg Lake and then gradually climbs to a high point (1590 m) -the junction of the Chain Lakes Loop and Ptarmigan Ridge trails.
We took a short detour and took a break, enjoying the view of Mount Baker. After a short break, we got back on the trail and hiked across the south slope of Table Mountain. This section of the trail offered some of the best views of Mount Shuksan.
Around 2 pm, we reached the Artist Point, and the parking lot was packed, with some cars parked along the road. At the parking lot, several viewpoints offer great views of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker.
From the Artist Point parking lot, we continued on the Wild Goose / Chain Lakes Loop trail. The trail had some steep sections, and thankfully, we were descending this trail and not hiking up. We were back at the Austin Pass Picnic Area before 3 pm. Including all the breaks, it had taken us just under five hours to finish the hike.
Overall, it was a great moderate family hike with some amazing views. In total it was 11.5 km with about 600 m of cumulative elevation gain.
Resources:
Chain Lakes Loop Trail: Washington Trails Association | All Trails
National Forest Day Pass: Day ePass
Weather Forecast – SpotWx | Yr.No | Windy
AdventureSmart – Trip Planning – Leave a trip plan
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
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