Ptarmigan Ridge

I've been waiting for the last couple weeks for the weather to cooperate to head up to Ptarmigan Ridge. The wildfire smoke was creating a haze and then clouds rolled in. There is still a bit of haze and the heat wave is back, but it cleared up so I decided to give it a shot. I heard that there were some significant snow fields and an ice axe might be necessary but I went without one hoping for the best. If I could traverse the snow fields, my goal was to try and climb Coleman Pinnacle which is the peak to the right of Mt Baker in the image below.

On the way out from the trailhead at Artist Point, you can see Mt Shuksan to the left. The whole hike is out in the open which is both good and bad. The good is that there are always amazing views, it's actually a bit of a sensory overload to take in. The bad is that there is no shade and given that it was like 90 degrees in full sun, it's easy to overheat. In fact, someone out on the trail collapsed from heat exhaustion.

Although largely rocky and somewhat barren on the trail, there are areas with streams from melting snow and wildflowers.

I was able to traverse all of the snow fields and make it the 4 miles out to Coleman Pinnacle. There were pretty good foot holds in the snow from previous hikers that made it passable. However, if you lost your footing and started to slide there were some areas where you would be in major trouble. Below is a shot of Mt Baker and Coleman Pinnacle from the other side of the ridge.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to climb Coleman Pinnacle. I underestimated how much water I needed to carry and was just about out by the time I got out there. Reluctantly, I decided to head back as it would not be a smart idea to be out in that heat doing strenuous hiking with no water and I was already somewhat dehydrated and feeling the heat.

On the way back I spotted some pluming clouds in the distance, almost looked liked a volcano erupting (or at least what I imagined it might look like, haha).

Once I got back to the trailhead, I packed up and took off in search of shade as there is none at Artist Point and it was way too hot. I headed a few miles down the road to a national forest road. It had some fairly deep ruts but I was able to zigzag my way around them and not get stuck. I scouted out a couple spots but the ones in the heavily wooded areas had way too many flies. I ended up staying at a more cleared out area where the bugs weren't as bad. The only downsides were it was a bit more exposed and people left used toilet paper all over the place. However, it had a good view of Mt Shuksan as you can see. The stars were amazing out there as well.