Leaving Seattle shortly after 7 a.m. we arrived at Artist Point and the trailhead around 10:00 a.m. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker were of course the primary objects of our affection, but all the peaks of the North Cascades - from Glacier Peak to the south up towards the Coast Range in British Columbia - were out sunning themselves.
A few bugs buzzing around the parking lot welcomed us to their home. Hefting our heavy overnight packs onto our backs, we headed west from the 5100' trailhead along the Table Mountain trail. The trail gains 100' over one mile to the intersection with the Ptarmigan Ridge trail at 5200'. From there, the Ptarmigan Ridge trail drops with a couple of switchbacks to 4810' in the Wells Creek basin.
After reaching this low point, the trail ascends through snowfields and regains the ridgeline at 5000'. Without a breath of wind on the lee side of the ridge, we cooked as we slogged up the snow in the direct sun. Luckily the breeze refreshed our energy and quickly dried away the sweat as we reached the ridge. There appeared to be a couple of nice camps along the ridge, some exposed and some tucked in among the few clumps of small trees.
We slowly ascended as we continued along the narrow but not exceptionally steep trail towards Mt. Baker, crossing several snowfields. Trekking poles and/or an ice axe definitely help to increase the confidence level when you see how far down the run-out is on the chutes and snowfields.
The trail rounds Coleman Pinnacle and plants you square in front of Mt. Baker. From here we could have walked down to a rounded ridge above an icy lake (good snow camping options) or continued on to Camp Kiser, which we elected to do. We were delighted to discover that aside from a few day hikers, we were the only ones spending the night in this amazing place.
While setting up camp, melting snow, and filtering water, we watched huge thunderheads billow up behind Shuksan and the Pickett Range to our East. For a while, we thought we might be in for an interesting evening but as the sun sank lower the clouds gradually dissipated. We were treated to a glorious sunset, with the high clouds that had blown out from the thunderheads above Mt. Baker cast all shades of orange, red, purple and yellow.
As we were only a few days past a full moon, once the sun set and the clouds blew away the night was amazingly bright. After a calm night of solid sleep, we awoke to find a thick blanket of cloud only a few hundred feet below our camp. Everything above the cloud layer (Baker, Shuksan, our immediate surroundings was sparkling with a clear blue sky. By 8:30 that morning, the cloud deck had risen to our site, and we decided to pack up and head out as the views had disappeared.
Walking out in the white-out wasn't as horrifying as the Spring-Manning assessment in the guidebook, but you do need to follow the beaten path and look for cairns when in doubt. If it had been snowing (and the obvious path covered up) then it would have been a different matter entirely.
The Spring-Manning guide book mentions a place where the trail divides and then rejoins. We never found this fork on the way in but did on the way out. As you are hiking in and up the snowfield from the low point of 4800', head directly up the slope towards the ridge instead of angling up towards Mt. Baker and the Coleman Pinnacle. This avoids having to boulder hop across a large field of heather to rejoin the trail where the ""wrong"" trail across the snowfield meets the ridge crest.
There were bugs all along the trail and at our camp. For the most part the breeze kept them down, but once the sun set and the breeze blew away they were rather annoying. Hopefully we'll have our first big mountain freeze soon and they'll all die off.
Ideally I'll have the photos on our web site within the next couple of days - www.dvandkq.net