Monday, October 31, 2016

Chain Lakes


October 10 was forecast to be a sunny day and we have not had many of them lately, so I decided to take advantage of the sunshine and go hiking in the Mount Baker area.  However, the sun never appeared, though the day was dry and the hike pleasant.  In fact, one of the few hikers I met asked where the sunshine was.  She, with her dog, had apparently had heard the forecasts, had the same idea and suffered the same disappointment.

I decided to hike the Galena-Chain Lakes loop, which takes one up from Austin Pass and Bagley Lakes through Herman Saddle and around the back of Table Mountain to Artist's Point and back down to Austin Pass or the other way around.  The hike was not difficult, a total of eight miles with 1700 feet elevation gain, most of that up from Bagley Lakes to Herman Saddle.  We had hiked to Herman Saddle several times but never all the way.

The disappointment of the hike was that neither Mount Shuksan nor Mount Baker were visible through the mist and clouds, except for occasional glimpses, though I did see Mount Shuksan on my way to the trailhead at Picture Lake.  The autumn color, however, was very good and the clouds made for some very atmospheric shots.

Picture Lake and Mount Shuksan




Mount Larabee and the Border Peaks







Bagley Lakes






autumn color on the way to Herman Saddle













 glimpses of the surrounding peaks





blueberries



more autumn color











Western Pasque Flower seedheads


more peaks and clouds










 at Herman Saddle




Iceberg Lake




 blueberries




Sitka Mountain Ash


 more autumn color



 Hayes Lake








Iceberg Lake again







Cascade Aster


 the streams that connect Hayes Lake and Mazama Lake



 Mazama Lake






Table Mountain




 where Mount Baker should have been


up again to Ptarmigan Ridge


Ptarmigan Ridge




 on to Artist's point



 threatening skies







 Stika Mountain Ash


Mount Baker Wilderness sign


 around the back side of Table Mountain







 nearly to Artist's Point



Fireweed



Artist's Point


 heather


 looking back across Upper Bagley Lake to Herman Saddle



 headed back down to Austin Pass



Table Mountain from Austin Pass



autumn color at Austin Pass