First time snowshoeing around Mt. Baker on Artist Point on Saturday. Too many clouds to see the big boy mountains but it was still a decent trip. I’ll have to go back on a clearer day. The road up to ski lodge was in great shape shut a little slush near the top. The trail is easy to follow right now lots of tracks to follow, I will note that some of the steeper terrain does look a little iffy avalanche wise. Overall though this is a super easy hike you’re in eye sight of the ski resort the whole time so it doesn’t feel so scary if you’re new to snowshoeing. Literally all you have to do is park in the Mt Baker Ski area parking lot and start heading south. Also when it’s clear out you get very good views for not a whole lot of work. I would definitely recommend this trail.

We went to Artist Point to see the first full moon on Christmas Day in 38 years. The trail was good with a lot of fresh powder and snowshoes or skis were essential. Temps in the evening were in the single digits but the night was absolutely stunning. Seeing Baker and Shuskan in the moon light was amazing.

Went snowshoeing up to Artist Point last Saturday, 19Dec2015. Per NWAC avalanche risk was at moderate. Light snow was falling when we headed out. There was a visible trail headed up that must've been created by previous hikers. Snow was powdery soft and deep. My group single-filed the trail and did not really have a hard time so as to recommend to others to not go snowsnoeing (YMMV; always check conditions). There were a few stumbles every now and then among us but mostly due to us having fun. Visibility deteriorated at the top as snowfall got heavier. Overall, with reasonable awareness of the surrounding and gear preparedness the hike up was very doable given the conditions. A reassuring thing was when one of the Mt Baker staff said they were doing avalanche control since 3am that morning. There were several other groups of snowshoers around. Get there early as the parking lot seemed packed by the time we got down. We got to the trailhead by 9am. Sorry about the low res photos. Screen grabbed them off my video.

We had friends visiting from the Netherlands, and wanted to take them out for snowshoe trip in the mountains. Friday the forecast promised a little bit of clear sky in the north, so we headed out to Artist Point to enjoy the gorgeous scenery. It was interesting to see how much snow has been added after we visited only 10 days ago. The outhouse at Artist Point is now almost buried. The conditions were excellent, but of course this changes quickly with the storms continuing to hit the north-west. We saw a few groups snowshoeing and skiing, but overall it was pleasantly quiet on this weekday. Only one couple and our group went all the way for Huntoon Point, so lots of fresh snow to enjoy!

Hiking up from the parking lot we followed the snow covered road no problem, but once we made it past Austin Pass we were post-holing thigh deep (with snowshoes). We marched up a bit further and gave up on Artist Point.