
I left Seattle at 12:00am. Arrived at Artist Point at 3:00am. 2 other cars in the parking lot. You could already see twilight forming on the eastern horizon at this hour. I was on the trail by about 3:45am. With twilight and a full moon I didn't really need a headlamp.
There is snow from the parking lot but the trail is also melted out over significant stretches. I hit the junction with the Chain Lakes trail in less than an hour. From there I took a detour to the top of Table Mountain. The entire way from the junction is under snow, and there's a minor obstacle just before getting up on the broad summit plateau. You have to cross a small begrschrund and then wind through a gap in the vertical wall of snow that otherwise blocks summit access. I recommend an ice axe at least. I also had crampons but they aren't absolutely necessary.
Caught the sunrise from Table Mountain and then took a long nap. After that, I headed back down to Ptarmigan Ridge. The Ptarmigan Ridge trail is also melted out over significant stretches. Some wildflowers are emerging. Of course there is also plenty of snow and I recommend an ice axe here as well. It's a long way to Camp Kaiser with limited views of Mount Baker until you reach it. There was one person camped there.
On the way back I encountered several people on skis. I don't think they realized how much of the trail is melted out. It's really too late to ski this route unless you don't mind repeatedly taking them off. When I got back to the parking lot at around 3pm there were hundreds of people playing in the surrounding snow. The trail however, remained fairly empty.
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