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Wild Goose chase
Sep. 29th, 2023 09:35 amFor several years running, I tried to hike the Chain Lakes Loop at Mt. Baker. The first time, I took a wrong turn and climbed Table Mountain instead. I checked again at the parking lot this year, it's a very easy mistake to make thanks to a poorly-placed sign. Another time, my plantar fasciitis was acting up and I just did a local trail where I was staying in Glacier rather than try to do anything too hard. Once I was overwhelmed by wildfire smoke and turned back. And I don't really remember why I decided to turn back another time, but I now know that I didn't really know what I'd have been in for if I tried to finish. And I'd already doubled back when I saw some very scary stairs I didn't want to go down. If I did the loop then, I would have had extra distance because of that choice.
This was my first attempt with a friend along, and I think that helped a lot. And I'm very impressed Terry made it, he'd never really done a serious hike or even much walking until he started walking locally once I'd invited him. We both agreed, the fall colors were absolutely amazing.
My plan was to park at the less popular parking area, Heather Lake, and head to Artist Point, getting those scary stairs out of the way early, and going up them instead of down. The first time we spotted an informational sign, the "you are here" sign let us know we went the wrong way. I'd incorecctly assumed the Wild Goose trail only connected those two spots, but it turns out you can go both directions on the loop from it if you start at Heather Lake. So I spent the entire hike dreading going down the terrifying stairs.
But we did it! And then we got to the bottom of the steps and learned we were nowhere near the van, which was odd because We'd done over six miles and everything we read said the Chain Lakes Loop is 6.5 miles. By the time we got back to the parking lot, it was more like 8. Does every resource just count the Chain Lakes Trail portion in the total? Very unhelpful.
That's a video of the route and won't play from the embed. But if you click through, you can navigate to the right for the rest of the trip photos.
I have no idea what the 2,513 feet figure is in the video, our true elevation gain was more like 1,900. Over four times the amount of climbing I've been training on lately. And I haven't walked since! I decided a week in the water was would be the best way to recover, so I did my regular routine Monday, Wednesday, and today here in Everett, and swam laps Tuesday and Thursday in Mukilteo. That's where I'm interested in checking out personal training, so I figured I should try the drive out there a couple of times in a week. It's 15-20 minute versus the five or less it takes here. Totally doable.
This was my first attempt with a friend along, and I think that helped a lot. And I'm very impressed Terry made it, he'd never really done a serious hike or even much walking until he started walking locally once I'd invited him. We both agreed, the fall colors were absolutely amazing.
My plan was to park at the less popular parking area, Heather Lake, and head to Artist Point, getting those scary stairs out of the way early, and going up them instead of down. The first time we spotted an informational sign, the "you are here" sign let us know we went the wrong way. I'd incorecctly assumed the Wild Goose trail only connected those two spots, but it turns out you can go both directions on the loop from it if you start at Heather Lake. So I spent the entire hike dreading going down the terrifying stairs.
But we did it! And then we got to the bottom of the steps and learned we were nowhere near the van, which was odd because We'd done over six miles and everything we read said the Chain Lakes Loop is 6.5 miles. By the time we got back to the parking lot, it was more like 8. Does every resource just count the Chain Lakes Trail portion in the total? Very unhelpful.
That's a video of the route and won't play from the embed. But if you click through, you can navigate to the right for the rest of the trip photos.
I have no idea what the 2,513 feet figure is in the video, our true elevation gain was more like 1,900. Over four times the amount of climbing I've been training on lately. And I haven't walked since! I decided a week in the water was would be the best way to recover, so I did my regular routine Monday, Wednesday, and today here in Everett, and swam laps Tuesday and Thursday in Mukilteo. That's where I'm interested in checking out personal training, so I figured I should try the drive out there a couple of times in a week. It's 15-20 minute versus the five or less it takes here. Totally doable.
