Ptarmigan Ridge — Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025

This trail offers Variations on a theme; luckily it's a very nice theme on balance (in both senses of balance). When R. put out a notice to the High and Outside group, I eagerly signed up, and nine of us met in Bellingham to pool two cars for the drive to Artist Point. When we arrived at about 9:45, the parking lot was nowhere near full, contrary to some dire warnings we had read. Maybe it was the combination of being a Wednesday, a little wildfire haze in the air (not much), and a forecast including a slight chance of thundershowers in the afternoon. 

We were on the trail at 10:08 (I looked), and almost immediately into the first Variation on the Theme: A long, fairly level sidehill trek on the Chain Lakes trail, mostly rocky. Some nice late-summer flowers--fireweed, asters, golden daisies, little campanulas, pearly everlasting. Views of Shuksan and Kulshan. 

At the junction of the Chain Lakes and Ptarmigan Ridge trails, the second Variation: the ominous descent into the valley of Swift Creek, ominous because we'd need to climb back out again in the afternoon when we'd be dog tired. Still rocky, but a bit more minor-key: downhill on little rocks, sometimes steep, sometimes on top of big rocks. But more flowers, now including lupine; yellow and mink Mimulus trumpets in the streamlets; puffballs of butterbur; saxifrage; paler purple, almost-white asters. 

Then the climb back up, the third Variation: still little rocks on top of big rocks, but upward, presaging a slippy afternoon descent. By this time the group of nine was beginning to string out, a good thing since no one coming the other way would want to pass nine hikers. We gathered again at the top of the next ridge, 5200 feet, at around 11:30 for our first sandwich, garden tomato, and energy bar break. Despite the climb, it was hard to feel sweaty or sun-baked, because of a cooling breeze and the cooling cover of some high clouds. The views of Kulshan expanded as those of Shuksan remained, both just slightly haze-muted by the pesky Olympic and BC fires that now seem to be a regular feature of late summer in the climate-changing Pacific Northwest. 

We began the 4th Variation at just after noon, proceeding up another long, slightly ascending rocky sidehill, this time across alternating soil and scree, at one point featuring a hillside completely carpeted in pearly everlasting. Successive ridges kept promising a more comprehensive view of Kulshan until we finally found it at our second lunch spot below Coleman Pinnacle, 5800 feet, with a bonus view of green Goat Lake below. A 360º video from a little knoll with a small windbreak gave a haze-attenuated view of mountains all around. 

At this point the gathered group made different decisions: some decided to go ahead, some to linger at this spot, having had enough variations on the same theme. I went ahead with the 5th Variation; steeper this time, still rocky, and was rewarded with closer-up views of Kulshan and the sole sighting of beargrass (much more common farther south in my experience than here in the North Cascades), and we reached the high point of the trail, about 6100 feet, at about 2:00. I decided not to go on, since it would have meant down and then up again, so I turned around at about 2:30 and met some of the folks waiting back at the second lunch spot, and proceeded back through the 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st variations. 

The way back felt a bit treacherous to my aging sense of balance. Not ordinarily a hiking pole person, I gladly used my single pole to creep gingerly down some of the steeper reaches of little rocks on top of big rocks. Fell once and banged my tailbone, but nothing serious. 

The way back was not without its treats. The breeze that had been cooling us all day was scouring the haze out of the view of Shuksan. I saw flowers I had missed on the way up, including the day's only paintbrush, an orangey variant dulled by dust, and a little pale yellow mat that I haven't identified yet. And a corn lily against the distant background of Kulshan and ominous-looking clouds was my favorite photo subject of the day. 

We were back at the parking lot at 5:38, so four hours in and three out. I didn't find out until the next day that R. and J. had gone on to Camp Kizer; I have a feeling I didn't miss too much, but that's up to them to decide. 

I think this would be an ideal hike for those who don't know how far they want to go into the alpine landscape, and also in the future for those of us not that far from turning 80. Even completing Variation 1 gives a good picture of what is on offer (though it might not be worth the drive); finishing Variation 3 and hanging out at the top of the first ridge would make a nice day if you didn't want to go farther. And if you did, you would certainly be rewarded for continuing. We were.