Word has it that there is more snow than normal for this time of year. Many snow fields (easy hiking) getting to the last knoll, about mile 4 before Coleman Pinnacle. The steeper snow banks form the trail head to mile 4 are passable - but I wouldn't be excited about crossing a few of them without boots and hiking poles. I had my axe - didn't use it. I wondered if I had my crampons if I could have continued up to the pinnacle? This was my first time up Ptarmigan so I wasn't prepared to be adventurous, unfortunately I didn't see anybody else do it so I could scope out a route. Lots of water - bugs were minimal and the snow is easily passable with boots and poles. The foliage scarce, between the flower and fall seasons, so it was all about the mountain. There was a herd of Goats around, they were down in the valley/gullies when I passed through - they left a gadzillion terds in the snow along the trail in one spot -- proof that they were within petting distance earlier in the day. someone said they number about 15 with 3 or 4 youngin's. Right now is the perfect time to do Ptarmigan until the snow starts.

Hit the trail about 1:30 the afternoon. Visibility was nearly perfect, temperature was warm but not hot and the light breeze was refreshing. The views were just as good as I had hoped and I could see all sorts of interesting ridges and peaks in addition to Shuksan and Baker. Though the parking lot at artist point was packed, there the trail was not too crowded. Locating and staying on the trail was fairly easy except for a few of the more barren patches where it was hard to distinguish in the rocks/gravel without looking for trail markers. Only one snow field was left and it was very easy to cross. Towards the end as I neared the glacier, mountain goats were visible on the slopes below Baker.

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.

WOW! What a way to end the Hike-a-Thon, literally in its final hours. We started this hike at around 6pm, the colors were amazing. This hike starts up at Artist Point, right near the base of Table Mountain. It follows a rocky, mostly open ridge between Shuksan and Mt. Baker. The sun was going down and hitting the mountains with reddish hues. The sky was blue but you could see some clouds off to the east. The goal for my hiking partner was to reach Coleman Pinnacle before dark, and he made it up to the pinnacle whilst I waited a little below since I'm not the world's most experienced route finder. By this time it was almost dark and the moon was coming up and glowing over the mountains and thankfully lighting our trail on the way out. Off in the distance the clouds came in over Shuksan with a spectacular lightning storm adding more light off and on as we came back down to Artist Point. There were a few spots with ripe blueberries and some really vibrant green areas with moss on the rocks where there was still some water flowing over the trail from snow melt. All things considered it was an excellent way to end the HIKE-A-THON, and we finished just before the witching hour! Happy Hiking :0)

The Ptarmigan Ridge trail is clear of impassable snow ass far as any normal hikers could conceivabley wish to go. The view from the parking area at Artist Point rivals the climax of many alpine hikes, and the easy rolling trail and jaw dropping scenery place this hike as one of the finest in Washington. Amazingly, there were not a huge amount of people on the trail on a perfect summer day.