Artist Ridge - Huntoon Point, Ptarmigan Ridge & Artist Point Snowshoe — Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019

The road to Artist Point is gated directly after the Chain Lakes trailhead, so the pups and I decided to walk the road up to check out the conditions. The first switchback or two on the road are dry. After that, there is a mix of snow/ice and bare pavement for the next several switchbacks. From the Lake Ann trailhead parking lot, the snow/ice is constant to the top. This morning at 9am when we were working our way up, the snow/ice was pretty slick, so I threw my spikes on, and made my way up easily. On the way back down, the snow had softened considerably, and I was fine in just my trail runners. 

Once we reached the Artist Point parking lot, we decided to check out the Ptarmigan Ridge trail. The trail is a mix of big patches of consolidated snow, and sloppy mud. We hiked about a mile down the trail to the junction with the Chain Lakes trail. I grabbed a snack and the pups had some treats, and we headed back towards the parking lot. 

From the Artist Point parking lot, we hiked the ridge towards Huntoon Point for awhile, just enjoying a lazy snow day. I did punch through here once or twice, but it was nothing that snowshoes would have helped with. There was a really nice boot path all of the way up to Huntoon Point. After playing around for another hour or so, we headed back down the snow covered road to the Chain Lakes parking lot. We only saw two couples during the entire hike (and one goat), and they were both heading up the road while we were on our way down. It was amazing to have that popular area all to ourselves. 

If you happened to lose a Kitt Peak hat around the Chain Lakes/Ptarmigan Ridge junction, I grabbed it and dropped it off at the Ranger Station in Glacier (I left it on the climbers registration desk just outside the door since they are only open on Sat/Sun right now).