Ptarmigan Ridge — Saturday, Sep. 6, 2003

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

What a pretty hike. We hiked to all the way to Coleman Pinnacle for an up close and personal view of Baker and her gorgeous glaciers. It made us wish that we had brought all of our climbing gear! The only down side to this hike was the number of people. It was like an extressway going up the trail and coming back down. The hike was quite easy and mostly flat. When we reached the ridge we were greeted by a very nice view of Baker. Most people chose to stop there or go to the very pretty ""14 goat lake."" We pressed on, making it to Coleman Pinnacle. The trail was tricky in some places, making us glad that we had brought our trekking poles for further stability. There were very few people this far up the climber's route and it made for a nice little get away! There were no bugs at all which was also a very nice change from the Glacier Peak area where we usually hike. On the descent, when we crested the last real ridge, we looked down to see all these people, hiking in and out. It looked like an ant farm! So with the chorus ""the ants go marching two by two, harrah harrah"" in our heads, we finished the hike out in no time. There was some really nasty clouds moving in which hastened our departure from the mountain. All in all it was a very nice hike with great views of most of the major peaks in the North Cascades region, even Glacier Peak.