Lots of people but plenty of space. Saw lots of Pika and chipmunks.

Beautiful hike as always. It was sunny, breezy, and smoke free today in the area, with a few amazing lenticular clouds floating around.

Many people, not many wildlife encounters. A few American Dippers were very active in the Bagley creek by the little bridges, and probably a flock of band-tailed pigeons at the pass, flying high up the trees together. Tons of blueberries, and the red bush colors are starting to patching all the mountain slopes.

No need to mention that parking was super busy. We sneaked into a safe road side spot not too far away from the trail.

We did a three day backpacking trip with our two children 4 and 8. The trail was in decent condition, but I don’t think this was the best trip for small children due to the rocky nature and we had to walk in pairs to assist the kids. The trail wasn’t quite wide enough for that so it was a bit sketchy with our packs and small children in hand. Once you get past the rocky portion it was ok. The weather was stunning on day one. Day two temps dipped. Rain was pretty intense since most of the campsites are fairly exposed. Dress in layers and make sure your gear is highly waterproof. I would recommend trekking poles and reconsider with small children’s since they have up be on your hand most of the hike. The hike was gorgeous and the lakes were perfect.

I started at the Artist Point parking lot and decided to hike it counterclockwise, which maybe was a mistake, as it seemed like the majority of hikers I passed seemed to instead be doing it clockwise? Oh well. I got the very steep part out of the way first I guess. And then the climb out of the basin from Mazama Lake was pretty chill, (though very exposed)! I also enjoyed being serenaded by squeaky marmosets on my way back to the Artist Point parking lot. Another mistake I made was that I had planned to lengthen the loop by including the Bagley Lake Loop Trail. But then when I got to the Bagley Lake parking area, I saw with great sadness that the loop is closed. So I Charlie Brown sad-walked on the road back to the Heather Meadows Visitor Center and made my way down to Austin Pass. I cheered up a bit when I got to the other Bagley Lake because I saw an American Dipper dipping about and then swimming in Bagley Creek. American Dippers always fill me with cheer. Altogether, it worked out that I took that ill-fated Bagley Lake detour because at the top of Austin Pass, I ran into a former coworker of mine and her mom and partner! It was so awesome to catch up with her and meet her hiking family.

The hike is gorgeous. The lakes are inspiring. This is a quintessential Western Washington hike. The only negative is that I should have hiked it sooner. Hike it before the snows come!!!!

We started at 11am at the Austin Pass / Heather Meadows Visitor Center and went counter-clockwise. Yesterday was foggy and we saw virtually nothing, we camped down the road and came back today. It was cloudy and cool when we started, but views gradually cleared up. No smoke. Saw three other dogs on the trail. The uphill (or downhill) sections were exposed - bring lots of water! It was in the 60s today but the sun was beating down on us on the ridges. I only had a liter (bottle broke yesterday) + my dog's water and could have done with two. The views are, of course, stunning, trail condition is beautiful (the bridge across Bagley Lake is my favorite). The trail passes a few streams my dog sampled and splashed in but is otherwise dry and a little dusty. Dog was a champ until we got to the descent on Wild Goose - she hates going down steep stairs and got carried down partway. We completed the loop in slightly under 4 hours, saw a bunch more groups starting clockwise from Artist's Point around 2pm as we passed through. Like another reviewer mentioned, there seems to be a bunch of trails (some social trails?) going places, so having the trail instructions or map is helpful.