Ptarmigan Ridge — Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2025

I absolutely love The Mount Baker Wilderness. 

This is my annual North Cascades/Artist Point adventure where I get to spend the entire day hiking around Mt Baker. 

I arrived at Artist Point at 0930am to a parking lot that was filling up fast. And when I returned to the parking lot around 1:30pm, there were several cars circling the lot waiting for a parking spot like hungry vultures. Who knew this place would be so popular on a Tuesday. 

I passed upwards of 50+, (probably a lot more) hikers on the trail throughout my nine mile journey. Everyone was pleasant. A few dogs off-leash and a handful of people going off trail to eat blueberries. But by and large, the sheer volume of people on the trail, there wasn't a lot of misbehaving. That's the "glass half-full" perspective because no one is perfect. 

I did, however do my part by hauling out four dog poop bags left behind by our responsible dog owners, who as we all know, would've collected those said dog poop bags on the way out. One bag was left in the rocks, opened about a mile or so into the hike. I was able to get a trash bag from a fellow hiker and collected that bag on my way out. I then found three more that were trail side, and all but one seemed to have been left there for several days. That would be 121 total dog poop bags that I've hauled out of the wilderness over the years. 

The trail is in fine condition with very minimal obstacles or tough spots to navigate. Today was a little warm with temperatures reaching the high 80's in some areas so I made sure I brought extra water. The good news that came with the heat was wind. It was very windy in open areas on the trail. 

From afar, the trail looks pretty daunting as you traverse the ridge line. But I assure you, this is a pretty mild trail. Although, nine miles roundtrip might seem like a lot, the elevation gain is spread out over those miles which makes the hike pretty enjoyable. Once I got to Goat Lake overlook, I made that my turn around spot. But I made sure to get a glimpse of The Portals. 

The hike back to the parking lot was uneventful. 

I'm closing in on 1,500 life time miles hiked. This hike put me at 1,469.1 miles.