Ptarmigan Ridge
Sep 02, 2009
by
el tigre
—
last modified
Sep 05, 2009 10:37 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Ptarmigan Ridge
- Region: North Cascades -- Mount Baker Highway
- Trails: Ptarmigan Ridge (#683)
- Avg Rating: 4.08
- Why You Should Go Now
- Fall foliage
- Ripe berries
Beautiful weather and tons of hikers. An easy trail in these conditions, though I understand it can be more treacherous earlier in the season. After 1.2 miles of gentle ascent to the turnoff for Chain Lakes, drop a few hundred feet and just as quickly make the only real climb of the trip, a few hundred feet to the ridge itself, at about 2-2.5 miles. From there it's up and down, mostly gentle, along the ridge's south/east slopes. We went round the Coleman Pinnacle but not quite all the way to Camp Kiser, say about 4-4.5 miles. Only 1 snowfield to cross, and it is almost entirely flat and no threat whatsoever. As we sat eating our lunch and staring at the bulk of Mt. Baker, lenticular clouds evolved into a more threatening cloudcover and we packed up and headed home. It was raining within about 12 hours but the weather held just fine for the afternoon. I can see how this hike could be challenging in fog, rain, snow, or high winds, as the ridge trail is exposed in some areas and landmarks can be hard to spot. On this day we enjoyed the views and trail comraderie. Lots of berries this time of year, no bugs whatsoever. Very sunny for most of the hike. Wonderful views of Shuksan, Baker (you're sort of hiking between the two of them), as well as numerous other Cascades peaks.
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