Photos

We only had one day to hike in the beautiful area because the rains were expected the next day, so we chose the Chain Lakes trail. It was still partly covered in snow, and one snowbank over a cliffy lake drop shortened our hike a bit, but it was still beautiful there.

This is a classic North Cascades hike through a handful of pretty subalpine lakes, talus fields and meadows full of whistling hoary marmots and squeaking pikas, with knockout views of Table Mountain, from a ridge-top divide known as Hermann Saddle. There are two main trailheads, one at the visitor center and one at Artist Point. You can park at one, hike to the other and then hitch a ride back to your rig, or hike back via the connecting Wild Goose Trail, a steep, one-mile link. The shorter option is about 6.5 miles, the longer about 7.5, with gains of about 800 and 1,400 feet respectively.

We did the trail from the Bagley Lakes loop trailhead and exited the same way after making a loop.