Chain lakes loop hike

What a day. I had wanted one more hike in the high country before the winter set in. Today we decided to head up the Mount Baker hwy and do the Chain lakes loop. What a sky on our way up. 

Be prepared this blog post has a plethora of photos. I couldn't decide which ones to leave out, so I put most of them in. After all this is my "high country hiking season end post". The majesty of the area should be shared and savored.

We parked at the parking area right at the closed gate and walked up the road to the Wild Goose trail. When we left our house at 7:30 am, it was 33 degrees outside, but when we got to the parking lot it was 42 degrees. Crazy, it warmed up the higher we drove. There was a slight breeze that kept the air a bit chilly for the beginning of our hike.

Lots of Blueberries still on the bushes.

The clouds did clear for awhile and we enjoyed the sunshine and the blue sky.

We made it to the Artist point parking lot, and where we would connect with the Chain lakes trail. The parking lot is empty since the gate is closed below. A view of  the bathroom and Shuksan in the distance.

As we came around the corner we had wonderful views of Mount Baker.

We stopped here for a quick snack and enjoyed the views before heading down to the lakes. We put our Yaktraks on for the walk down the hill. There were a few crusty/icey places through this area, the Yaktraks were perfect. We had no trouble with our footing and took them off after we were through that patch.

Another view of Shuksan.

Iceberg lake

We found a sunny spot out of the wind for our lunch near the second lake. It was nice to relax with the warmth of the sun while we ate.

Then it was up to Herman Saddle and the endless spectacular views.

Then it was down to Bagley lakes.

We walked past this bridge and decided to cross at the next one.

As you can see the fall colors were amazing. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves. We saw one couple as we were leaving the lakes. We saw a friend of our at Herman Saddle and a handful of tourists from China down by Bagley lakes, for some reason one of the women wanted her friend to take a picture of us with her. I don't know why, maybe they thought we were mountain climbers. Who knows?! They were very friendly, we enjoyed visiting with them.

The day was just what I needed, that last taste of Alpine.

Garmin stats:

total miles hiked - 8 miles

total ascent - 2031 feet

Birch Bay 20 mile run

Today I planned on a 10 mile run when we drove to Birch Bay. My husband drove along and encouraged me and walked our big dog Moose as I ran. I decided a couple of miles along that I just might go a bit farther. My husband made sure that my nuun/water bottle stayed full. I brought enough snacks with me to keep me fueled up during the run. By the time I got to the Bp recreation area, I'd already run 8 miles, I decided I would run to the next gate and turn around. My husband couldn't drive in this area so he drove around and walked in from the other gate to see how I was doing. I thought as I ran along that perhaps 15 miles sounded good. That would be farther that I've ran for awhile. When I saw my husband the next time I told him I was planning on going 15 and then I would assess at each mile after that just how much farther I wanted to run. Since he was following in the car I could stop at whatever distance I chose. I was still feeling good at 15, so I thought maybe 18 sounded like a good goal. When I got to 18 miles I realized that 18 was just 2 miles short of where I had begun, so I decided to go all the way to the starting point, to make it a complete out and back route. I surprised myself at how good I felt. I really only began to tire the last 2 miles, it had a gradual incline that really tested me. I was determined to finish and I did! It worked out great that the turn around point was exactly 10 miles. I checked my Garmin as I touched the gate. Hurray, 20 miles of walking 3 minutes/running 7 minutes intervals. 

I kept to this plan and it really helped me to complete the distance.

Some of the sights along my route:

Relive video of the route

or YouTube

https://youtu.be/OKIgk2tEX2w

I wouldn't have been able to finish without the support of my husband as I went along. He really helped not only by making sure I had a full nuun/water bottle, but by encouraging me nearly every 1/2 to 1 mile along the way.

Garmin stats:

Total Miles - 20

Total ascent - 482 feet