It was finally time to move to another area in the North Cascades and we decided that Mount Baker would provide some interesting hikes.

We departed the Cascades Pass Road and returned to Marblemount NPS Ranger Station to refill our water bottles. Unfortunately, their water system had problems and was not safe to drink. It’s interesting that all the campsites and campgrounds we visited either had no water or had water problems. Luckily, we carried a 5-gallon jug of water and still had enough for a few more days.

We stopped at the USFS Ranger station on our way to Mount Baker to get water–and it was closed for scheduled maintenance. But there was water available outside so we finally had a chance to refill.

After arriving at Artists Point we started our hike along Ptarmigan Ridge Trail towards Mount Baker. Wildflowers were plentiful and I spent lots of time taking photographs. The trail doesn’t really “end” but just fades away as it gets closer to Mount Baker. We selected a spot that we decided was our turnaround and had lunch. We were not in a hurry leave this beautiful location.

On the way back we took a detour towards Goat Lake and saw, of course, some mountain goats. They were lying on the ground and from a distance looked like pillows. We also saw this nice piece of trail art.

The next day we decided to do a portion of Chain Lakes Trail—but first we stopped at Nooksack Falls.

We headed up the Chain Lakes Trail to the pass between the Bagley Lakes and Iceberg Lake. In one direction we had wonderful views of Mt. Shuksun; in the other views of Mt. Baker.

The weather forecast indicated we were running out of warm and sunny days with a chance of showers for the next several days. It was finally time to leave the North Cascades and begin heading in a generally southerly direction. Towards home—but not homeward bound, yet.