Chain Lakes

2023-07-08
North Cascades National Park, WA

North Cascades is beautiful. It's sort of a cross between the Rockies and Appalachians. There are places of bare rock like the former, but lots of pine trees like the latter (although both the mountains and trees are taller). The road through the park (SR 20) is a wonderful drive through the woods and over rivers. It is really pretty, but not like Shenandoah with overlooks ever few miles. It's more mellow, with beautiful trees and the occasional waterfall visible but most of the cool stuff requires you to leave the main roads. Then again, I think a number of people come to national parks to not leave the main roads.

Today we hiked Chain Lakes Loop. The road was closed two weeks ago due to snow, but it was clear and open up to the top today. We decided to do the loop counterclockwise simply because we found that trailhead first. It took us nearly six hours to complete the seven-mile loop with 1900 feet of climb. The first mile or so was amazing with the clouds down in the valley.

Above cloud nine
Above cloud nine
We thought all the views would be in this cloud. It happens.
We thought all the views would be in this cloud. It happens.
Mt. Baker
Mt. Baker

After that we went past several lakes. There are four main lakes on the route. Strangely enough it was another Iceberg Lake. That was pure coincidence. We didn't even bring a door to see if we'd float.

The first lake in the chain
The first lake in the chain
Everyone wants an iceberg lake. This one is more ice than lake.
Everyone wants an iceberg lake. This one is more ice than lake.
Alpine lake that lost its snow
Alpine lake that lost its snow

Once past the first few lakes there is a climb up a heavy snow field and Val pulled a leg muscle sliding in the snow. It wasn't a terrible pull and she was able to continue around. There were actually quite a number of places where we had to slog through snow. Most of them were fairly flat and while it was slow and slippery going, it wasn't a big problem. However the larger climbs were a challenge. Some micro-spikes would have helped.

Do you have a toboggan in that backpack?
Do you have a toboggan in that backpack?

After that there is a three-mile downhill into the valley, which unfortunately meant the last mile was pure climb. It turns out that others recommend the opposite direction (clockwise) and/or leave from one of the other two trailheads on the loop to avoid the steep ascent at the end. It was really challenging for us. Overall we will look back on this hike fondly, but next time we would do differently.

Once you finally crest the ridge you get a reward. Clicker training, but with hikers and mountains.
Once you finally crest the ridge you get a reward. Clicker training, but with hikers and mountains.

Technically the hike is in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, but trees and lakes don't really care about such borders and the views care even less. It is supposed to be one of the best hikes in the area which is how I chose it. Unfortunately it was 2.5 hours from the Inn, and the last 20 miles or so was a windy road up the mountain to the trailhead. On the way out we passed a line of maybe 20 Mini Coopers. I'm sure they are running up the mountain to prove that their cars can handle tight turns. I hope their brakes are in good shape for the way down...

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