Note: I DID NOT hike to Galene Lakes. I tried. Really hard. For a long time.
I am posting this because when I was researching this trip I could not find that much recent info. My 2 cents, for what it's worth, is that the trail is in really rough shape. Now, I like a spot of bushwhacking here and there, and routefinding can be fun, but this pushed me into bug insane, painful, no fun territory. So we turned around after 4km of sweaty, itchy from the bugs, constant up, under, around, all the blowdown, and scratching our heads in the places where the river has flooded the trail.
I was sad, because I was ready for a big hike, and the photos from Galene Lakes and the ridge above are so pretty, but it was not meant to be. Still stayed the 2 nights planned in Skagit Valley Prov Park, but no Galene Lakes for us.
Has anyone been up there? Does the trail improve when it starts heading uphill? We ran into a couple who were heading in and they said some of the creek crossings were a bit challenging too, but that they heard from someone who did the trail in 2011 that it improves once in the forest heading uphill, but 2011 is still 2 windy winters ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if the trail has deteriorated since then....