Over the past few years, I've already attempted to snowshoe up to Artist Point. However, I always found myself turning around right about the 1 mile mark due to inclement weather. I finally found a nice weekend to do an overnight up in Artist Point and it was so worth it.

The road up to the White Salmon and Heather Meadows ski area were both clear of snow. Any car can make it. I guess I've never had to park my car in the overnight lot when it was still ski season and I didn't know you have to reserve a parking spot. But I'm glad one of the people that I went on this trip with informed us. The parking permit was $32 and I picked the 'unoccupied vehicle'. I'm actually still not certain if this is required so if anyone has information on this, do let me know!

It was nice to finally be up in this area again when I'm not fogged in. The skies were clear even though there were a good amount of clouds. However, this was the best condition I have gotten amongst the past 3 times I've made it up here. The trail was easy to follow even though I was expecting more folks to be out on the trail on this fine Saturday. I still had an offline map downloaded as there were many tracks from previous snowshoers and could definitely cause a little confusion and sometimes these tracks led to nowhere.

The only hard section of the hike was a steady climb parallel to the ski area, clearly marked and after this, it was a relatively easy trek up to the parking lot, which was hard to identify with it being snow covered.

I saw folks that set up camp a little further down, just under the section with an obvious steep slope. They had a lot of tree coverage. But we decided that we wanted to get a better view and since the forecast called for minimal wind, we felt comfortable being in a slightly more exposed area.

We picked a spot with views of Shuksan, Baker, and Table Mountain and started digging. This was my first time snow camping in the winter. The last time I did was on the base of Baker when I was on the Railroad Grade trail. There was also already a snow barrier present so I used that as protection from the winds in case they do pick up later in the night but continued to dig a relatively shallow spot - just enough to house my tent for the night. My friend dug out a bench and table for us. The joys of snow camping. You create your own 'camp furniture'. It stayed relatively warm until the sun was starting to set.

We watched the sun set and turned in for the night. Although I kept checking the weather before heading out, I was still not expecting rain in the morning when I woke up. We quickly packed up and hiked back down to our cars. The conditions were bad and the rain actually stopped by the time we packed up but I thought it was still a good choice to pack up and head down.

I felt truly grateful to finally check this one off my list.

Still deep snow on the Artist Point road, past the Heather Meadows parking lot. we get more conditions like yesterday, it will melt fast, but there's enough to last for months yet. However, I was informed that I was the last snowshoe rental of the season at Bellevue REI, and the other REIs have stopped for the season too, so you'll have to scrounge or bring your own.

We left the trailhead before 9, and the snow was still quite firm and crunchy, but it softened up quickly in the sun. On the way out I even postholed once on the edge of the packed trail, even with tails on my snowshoes. However, there were also plenty of people making it up in just spikes, or even just street shoes; depends on your balance, weight, and skill, I guess.

The place where the road veers into the ski resort, and the snowshoe route goes along the ski area boundary straight up the side of Austin Pass, is a real thigh and lung burner, especially if your conditioning slacks off in winter like mine. I'd recommend not burning yourself out here, because there's still one more push right before the top/ridge crest/summer parking lot. I ended up not making that, but if you're in at all better shape than me, you should be fine.

The forecast vacillated between partly cloudy and overcast, and it ended up being beautiful, with just high clouds. I feel like sunny spring weekends are probably the best time to do this hike, especially if you're there for the sweeping vistas.

Overnight snow camping trip from the Heather Meadows parking lot. We ascended up into Austin Pass and set up camp. There were plenty of people there, and it was a bright and sunny Saturday. The winds were low, and the snow became very slushed as hours drove on into the afternoon. After we established a camp, we snowshoed up to Huntoon Point and took lots of photos. Artist Ridge is never a disappointment (unless you're in a cloud).

Overall, it is a very straightforward snowshoe hike. You approach one of the MBSA groomed runs, follow the line up to the MBSA sign, and head towards Huntoon Point. Austin Pass is the lower valley on the hiker's left. It's easy to find, and there is great wind protection. If you don't have snowshoes, you will be post-holing a lot and it won't be a good time. I recommend skis or a splitboard tour for those getting into skimo/touring. It's a great spot to mosey around.

Road to Artist Point narrowed considerably as we went to the summit. Temps were at or below freezing but fortunately with the snow machinery running there was no ice on the roads and I didn’t need to put chains on my 2WD Prius. Keep on eye on road conditions on WSDOT before climbing. Also be extremely cautious about going up this narrow, windy road with snow machinery. Snow banks are 8-10ft high and snow plows can come around the corner quickly. Almost saw someone speed into a snow removal vehicle (see picture attached) going around a narrow bend on Mt Baker Highway.

Arrived at 11am. Parking lot was completely full and staff had folks parking alongside the road outside of the parking lot. Tons of skiers on the chairs as well as back country skiers. Trail itself was pretty well packed down - would highly recommend snowshoes due to post holing on the way up. Micro spikes might work but you would need to stay on the trail. Very steep sections going up.

Moderate snowfall increased and visibility dropped significantly the higher up we went. Made it up to Artist Ridge nearby the parking lot but could only see 20ft in whiteout conditions. Went about half a mile towards Huntoon Point before calling it quits due to the weather and heading back down.

Saw a few small D0.5 avalanches triggered by back country skiers alongside the trail but visibility was very low and couldn’t see much further out towards avalanche prone areas like the south end of table mountain.