Table Mountain, Chain Lakes Loop — Saturday, Aug. 25, 2001

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Your typical spectacular day in the mountains. Clear skies, warm but not hot, lots of flowers (it's summer up near baker), but a few berries already. Lakes, glaciers, marmots, birds, caterpillars, butterflies, flies (not too many flies), and people, lots of people. Hikers, skiers, tourists, and more. I did a chain lakes/table mountain loop from Artist point. Folowed the chain lakes trail from Artist Point to Hayes Lake. All lakes are totally melted out; the trail is in good condition with some mud and a few tiny snow crossings. (Skip the one at the parking lot by heading all the way to your left.) It's flagged in some areas for repair too. Returning towards Ptarmigan ridge, I went up at the vehemently unmaintained Table Mountain trail. The first few hundred feet are blocked by fallen trees, presumably intentionaly left in place; after that, there's only one blowdown to go around and the trail is in great condition to a saddle below the high point of Table Mountain. The glacier drops into a lake at this point, beautiful blue water. People were skiing down the glacier and climbing down the rock; I climbed up the rock. Scary because it's loose, and a fall would be extremely unwise. From a closer look at the USGS map, it appears a gentle traverse of the glacier would work, though I don't have proper snow equipment. From there it's straight forward to all the people at the east end of Table Mountain, and a forest of cairns. The path back to the parking lot is not for those with vertigo.