Ptarmigan Ridge — Friday, Sep. 22, 2000

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Three weeks ago I hiked this trail as part of a Mountaineer's scramble group. Our ultimate destination was Coleman Pinnacle. At that time it was snowing so hard we couldn't see where the snow in the sky ended and the snow on the ground started. I vowed I would return in nicer weather to see what I had missed the first time around. Friday night was clear and very cold but the forecast for Saturday Saturday as great so out we headed. I was amazed by the number of cars at the trailhead. I shouldn't have been, with nice weather, easy access, and stunning views it's no wonder what draws the hoards. It was a very easy hike in about 1 1/2 miles til we reached the first snow field. Be warned this patch is very steep. Because of the clear and cold weather the previous night the snow was as hard as granite. Even though we had ice axes we chose to hike down and around this snow patch. Our hope was that once we reached snow that was in the sun it would be softer and allow us to continue. We had no such luck. The snow was so hard that we couldn't kick steps. We made the hard decision to turn around a try a different trail. The FS ranger we ran into at the trail head mentioned 50% of this trail is still under snow. Yet, I was amazed by the number of ill equipped hikers who chose to continue past where we turned around. I'm not exaggerating when I say this snow was rock hard yet we saw hiker after hiker in sneaker and without so much as a trekking pole slip and slide all over the ice. I wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible because I didn't want to be party to a rescue involving some idiot hiker who didn't have enough sense to turn around. I've done this trip before, there is a lot of steep snow. At a minimum you need to carry an ice axe. If the snow was as hard as it was on Saturday I wouldn't attempt it without crampons.