PNW

Amaze. Next time to Pea Soup

Trail has so much variety. It’s the not difficulty of the trail but the distance that kills. Go to Jade. It way worth it. * road to the trail is rugged. Lots of pot holes and a small river Crossing. Did it in a Prius and Kia Optima. Have fun y’all

That the trail is absolutely beautiful, you already know! I did this as a day hike on October 3rd and it's very doable, just long. I also didn't go to Pea Soup because I wanted to go back before sunset, but I regret that decision, it would be totally fine. Took me almost 12h, but I got lost in the trail (hehe see below) so it's possible to finish in less time. But few things to add: From the trailhead to Marmot is pretty easy to follow. The issue is when you get there, I knew I had to scramble through some rocks to get to Jade, so the fist pile of rocks I saw got me confused - it's not there. You have to go all the way to the end of the lake to get to the rocks. When you get there, there are some cairns as other reviews say but I got lost there and tried to hike all the way up - it got pretty crazy so I realized there was no way in hell that was correct (I lost around 1h30 there) then finally other hikers arrived and I just followed them, you had to cross the little "waterfall" and then continue to go up - waaaaay easier, there's also a little trail to the left so you don't have to scramble through the rocks all the way up. My clock said 25 miles. Awesome hike, definitely recommend it!! I'll do this again on the Summer when we have more sunlight and go to Pea Soup/Dip Top Gap. Ah, be prepared to get your feet in the mud! Mosquitos were not super bad.

Gravel access road is long but in decent condition. Some rutted areas that make for a bumpy ride, couple potholes, and one water crossing- all easily doable in an SUV and still passable in a sedan. First weekend of October and the trail was in great condition and absolutely beautiful. I arrived at the parking lot just after 10am on Saturday (the drive was just under 4 hours from Bellingham). Lots of cars in the parking area but still easily found a spot. First couple miles of the trail are wet, muddy, and mostly flat or downhill. Around the 3rd mile you start to see incline and switch backs. After this the trail mixes with ups, downs, and flats. With the ground changing from mud, to rock, to sand, etc. Around the 5 mile mark you’ll start to see a plethora of blueberry bushes. This time of year the bushes were a beautiful red and the berries were ripe and delicious. Make sure to pick some! Not much to report after that until marmot lake. Arrived at the lake and cruised right through. Decent amount of campers when I passed by but there was still plenty of room for more people (which was good, there were quite a few groups behind me that I passed who were all clearly backpacking). As others have mentioned, the trail from marmot to jade isn’t super clear. A path that looks clear as day ends up leading you to a dead end. Just try to stay close to the lake and check your map if you can. I was able to easily find the trail on the way up, but somehow lost it on the way back. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the scramble given the mixed reviews, so I wanted to provide my input for others. If you’ve done Asgard’s pass, this is a cake walk. I think what makes this part challenging is the fact that you’ve already hiked 9 miles with a pack and your body is likely feeling it. I did it with my 35lbs pack and had my French bulldog following behind me with absolutely no issues and it went a lot faster than I thought it would. Coming down was also pretty simple and I never felt off balance or worried of falling/injury. That being said- compared to the rest of the trail, this is definitely the most difficult part, especially if you’ve never done any sort of scrambling before. If you’re inexperienced or don’t feel safe with a pack, camp at marmot and just do a side trip up without your gear. Know your limits. Jade lake was absolutely stunning. Took a quick dip since the weather was a lot warmer than I had anticipated. I took the second last campsite. Couple more people flowed in behind me, most were respectful and moved down to no name lake when they couldn’t find spots. Most people were respectful about where they camped and proper etiquette. Overall I was really happy with the experience, especially considering some of the terrible comments I read from over the summer. I had some knee troubles after reaching Jade so I skipped pea soup, but will definitely do it next time as a side trip. Saw plenty of people heading up and down. Hike up was about 4.25 hours, which was honestly too fast. Ended up regretting the speed and lack of breaks the next morning. Hike back ended up with similar time, if anything it was slightly longer. Talking with other hikers it sounds like 6 hours one way is the norm, assuming you stop for food breaks (I did not). Additional notes- -Lots of stream crossings. Doable without getting the feet wet as of Oct 3rd, but this likely won’t last long. -Lots of dogs on the trail. If you’re not a dog person, or your dog isn’t friendly, might want to pick a different trail. -Trail traffic has definitely died down since the peak of summer, but still pretty busy.

Push through jade onto pea soup!

Did Fisher Lake and Ptarmigan Lakes from Foss River Road. Tried to access Marmot and Jade from Deception Pass but road was close. Ended up being a solid hike if totally a surprise and unknown. No one on the trail. Up for the first 1.3 miles then down about 700 ft to Fisher and carried on to Ptarmigan (don't miss these lakes) - glad they were clearly marked

Doesn’t get better than this! Although, recommend avoiding on the weekend altogether OR arriving to the lakes early, if you plan to camp. All lakes were at capacity with campers as we were hiking out from No Name Lake at 3pm on Saturday.

Great