Ptarmigan Ridge — Friday, Aug. 16, 2024

Wife and I hiked up on Friday, August 16th, 2024 for an overnight. This was our first time at Ptarmigan Ridge. 

We got to the Artist Point trail head (end of Mount Baker HWY) around 1:30PM and it was packed. Lots of cars and even more people. Luckily we found a spot and snagged it! We were completely socked in. You could only see about 50 yards in every direction. This did not deter people from being out and exploring though!

We started hiking at 1:45PM, beginning at the Chain Lakes Loop trail head heading West towards Mount Baker.

2:30PM : We made it to the Chain Lakes cutoff, where you can continue the loop or keep heading Southwest to Ptarmigan Ridge. We saw about 10 people after this point all heading back to the parking lot.

3:45PM : We made it to one of the first overlooks. Which is at about 2.8 miles. We did not hike out to the point, which is an overlook into a large ravine. A lot of people were stopped in this location on our way out Saturday. Gives you a full 360 degree view of all surrounding landscape. Unfortunately on our way in Friday, all we saw was a wall of white fog! 

5:00PM : We made it to Camp Kiser. Which is just over 5 miles. There are about a dozen campsites in this area spread out amongst the rocky landscape. Great place to set up camp as it is about 1 mile short from the end of the trail. The end of the trail is not extreme, but it is quite the climb with a little scrambling; which could be difficult for some with a heavy pack on. We set up camp and enjoyed the evening as the clouds rolled in and out over the landscape. It was definitely an incredible view to see. We shared Camp Kiser with three other groups for the night. We watched the sunset, and took an awesome time lapse video of the clouds rolling in and out. 

4:00AM : Wind was relentless. We woke up to the tent flapping like crazy. It was very difficult to get back to sleep after this. 

5:00AM : I got up to catch the sunrise. Not a single cloud was in the sky. Wind was still blowing, but it was surprisingly not a cold wind. Definitely glad we brought our insulated jackets though, this helped keep the wind at bay. I perched up on a rock for 2 hours and just watched the sun rise and took in the amazing landscape around me. It was surreal how different everything looked now that the fog had lifted from the night prior. 

8:00AM : We decided to hike up to the top / end of the trail. My wife decided to stop before we ascended up to The Portals East as she is not a fan of heights / drop offs. She was content hanging out and taking in the view while I continued on. To my surprise, there are a handful of campsites up top in various locations all along the ridge to the end. I will say though, they were fully exposed to higher winds than at Camp Kiser. I reached the end of the trail at 8:30AM. You are welcomed with a full view of Mount Baker, and a shear drop off. It was an incredible sight. Being up on The Portals East is incredible because you are above everything else around you, so it is 360 degree views in every direction, except Baker of course!

9:45AM : Camp was packed up and we were on our way out. A totally different hike compared to the day before as we had full views for miles in every direction! We passed SO many people. It was incredible just how many people were on this trail. Luckily the trail is well maintained and wide enough that it is easy coming and going. 

10:30AM : We got to see the infamous Goat Lake everyone talks about! A lot of prior trip reports talked about this lake and how it was a great spot to camp. Unfortunately we had no idea where it was because we could not see a thing when we were hiking in Friday! For reference. The turn off to go to the lake is around 4.1 miles. There is a split where you can head down to the left past a cluster of rocks and head to the lake. This would have been great to know on our hike in! But we were very pleased with making it and camping at Camp Kiser. This is definitely the place to camp. 

1:00PM : We made it back to the parking lot. Parking lot was beyond packed. People were parking in non designated spots, which caused blockades / choke points throughout the lot. On the drive down there were lots of cars parked off the road on both sides until you got past the Heather Meadows Visitor Center. 

Couple notes / details that might be helpful. 

1. The last good source of water is Goat lake. After this there are a couple small glacier run offs right before Camp Kiser, but they are minimal. 

2. This hike is mostly exposed, so might be a good idea to wear protective clothing or sunscreen. We burnt our faces / necks on the way out Saturday. 

3. Highly suggest doing this on a weekday, as the crowds on the weekends are insane. Understandably though, this area is the most bang for your buck when it comes to accessibility and views. 

4. There are no bad views. This entire hike has views in every direction. So you will not be disappointed. Mount Baker is viewable 90% of the time. 

5. As other trip reports mention, we did see the 20-30 mountain goats that were traveling around the area. They were less than a mile from Camp Kiser. On our hike out, they were 100 yards off the trail above us about 1/2 mile after leaving Camp Kiser. It was fun to watch them travel around the hillsides in the distance, a large pack of white dots roaming around the grassy hillsides. 

6. Roundtrip distance was 11 miles. Elevation was about 2400'. 

7. Due to limited site from being socked in, and being our first time on this hike. I was using AllTrails quite often to make sure we were heading in the right direction as we could see far enough to follow a trail. Especially at some of the snow crossings where there appeared to be multiple routes to take. 

8. Snow crossings were not bad, but poles might be helpful to some. My wife used poles the entire hike, she did say they were helpful. 

I added a link to my timelapse video of the sunset. Hopefully it works and you can enjoy it as we did!

I also added a 3 minute video of my adventure out to the end of Portals East.

All in all, this was an incredible hike and I suggest everyone do it once!

Cheers,

Ryan

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tVKC0VsRyPWrS4tJq7c1S5hzSFZLlqtT/view?usp=drive_link
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eclWkNBNBt08pkFKUIavpRpDJO5yYnQl/view?usp=drive_link