Ptarmigan Ridge — Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022

Bottom Line:

Excellent fall hike with fantastic meadow colors, turquoise tarns and stunning views of Mt Baker; moderate rambling up-and-down ridge hike right up to Mt Baker glaciers; afternoon outbound headed directly into the sun, which provides for brilliant back-lit fall foliage, but also a shadowed and back-lit Mt Baker (so some tradeoffs for photographers); relatively smoke free on the trail but fires and (thicker) haze visible to the north, east and south; the fire to the north is relatively close with a large plume that did not blow in until the end of the day when the breeze picked up; very busy trail on the way out, but did not see any other hikers on the return over the course of a couple of hours

NOTE: The Washington State Department of Transportation will be fully closing State Route 542 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from Monday, Oct. 3 through Friday, Oct. 7, between the Silver Fir campground and just west of the Razor Hone Creek (between mileposts 47 and 50) for its annual prewinter maintenance work. This trail will not be accessible during the closure.

Stats:

• Distance: 12 miles
• Vertical: 2250 feet
• Duration: 6 hours
• Weather: sunny, 70s to 50s, smoke haze, light breeze
• Road/Parking: Road in excellent condition (see closure notice above); parked at the Artist Point trailhead, which was busy, but with plenty of overflow parking; National Forest parking pass required
• Trail: The Chain Lakes trailhead is at the very end of the Artist Point parking lot, and connects to the Ptarmigan Ridge trail at a well-signed junction; the trail is a rocky, rambling up and down ridge walk gaining a cumulative 2.2K vertical out to Camp Kiser, overlooking Shales Glacier, and dramatically looking up through The Portals, which frame the upper reaches of Mt Baker; the north aspect of Mt Baker is pretty much completely glaciated and provides a stunning backdrop; there are lots of camping spots at Camp Kiser (although few campers); the ridge follows brilliant meadows with breathtaking fall color for pretty much the entire hike; tons of blueberries at the beginning of the hike; at the distinct corner near Coleman Pinnacle, there is a beautiful emerald tarn that one can reach with a steep and sandy descent (quite a number of campers in that area); saw plenty of pika and marmots; one minor snowfield to cross; some western Pasqueflower left and of course lots of golden grass
• Takeaway: Near peak fall color with a moderate rambling ridge walk that allows one to pretty much get as close to Baker's glaciers as you like, although you will find the north side of the mountain in the shade by midafternoon this time of year

The attached 4K video captures the trail out to Camp Kiser, although with lots of glare as we were hiking into the sun until it set behind Baker :) This is a moderate hike that allows one to just soak in the surroundings.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.aol.com/news/plan-enjoy-artist-point-fall-175340116.html