Ptarmigan Ridge 2015

Mt. Shuksan behind the trail to Ptarmigan Ridge

Thirteen Senior Trailblazers got together this morning to enjoy a beautiful sunny day on Ptarmigan Ridge. When we all finally got together at the Glacier Ranger Station, we sent our four Super Hikers off to start ahead of the rest of us, since they were all in a car together and raring to go. That left nine of us to make our way along the ridge. I have to tell you, the picture above surprised me with what looks like a mountain sprite right in the middle. I don't know what it is really, but that's my story: a mountain sprite. The clouds were absolutely beautiful all day long.

Haze looking towards Baker Lake

The weather couldn't have been better, and we headed from Artist Point off to the ridge, admiring all the wonderful sights and enjoying a light breeze and cool temperatures. While we were looking off in the distance, we spied some mountain goats! I took this picture with my camera, using the zoom all the way out.

Mountain goats basking in the sun

We stopped for a clothing adjustment just before we got to Ptarmigan Ridge, and we remarked that it was just the kind of weather where as long as you were moving, you only needed light clothing, but once you stopped for any time at all, it felt cool with the breeze. Perfect hiking weather!

Linda, Al, Peggy, Ward, Kirk, Chris (Mt. Baker behind)

As we made our way along Ptarmigan Ridge, we saw plenty of other people on the trail, even though it's Thursday and school is back in session around here. But this is the last sunny day we are expected to have for at least a week. It was just delightful as we made our way to our lunch spot.

Haze (from fires?), sky, and shrubs turning color

I thought this picture turned out to be my very favorite of all I captured today. Interestingly, on the way back, all that haze was gone and the skies had cleared completely. I'm not sure if the wind direction changed, or what caused the difference. Earlier, I was thinking we were seeing the change between sunshine and rain, but now I'm not so sure at all.

Heading toward the Mt. Baker portals

 As we made our way towards our lunch spot along the ridge, the clouds thickened and the temperature dropped. We kept going, knowing that we had gained the majority of the elevation and just needed to stop at an appropriate place and have lunch. We expected that the Super Hikers were probably already on the top!

Rich, Doug, Dave (Roger took the picture)

I just received a set of pictures of Doug, who told me that they had lunch at the West Portal on the way to Mt. Baker. Can you see how close the mountain is to this spot? The rest of us stopped well short of the portals, and enjoyed a very nice lunch but noticed how cold it seemed. We turned around a little after 1:00pm to start our descent. This is an out-and-back hike, and we could only speculate where the Super Hikers might be. (We ran into them at Grahams when we stopped for ice cream.)

Our trail and M. Baker behind

What amazed all of us is how what seemed to be weather moving in just seemed to depart in an instant! When I looked back at the trail we had just covered, every single cloud in the sky was departing, with only a clear blue sky accented by a stiff breeze.

Jacqueline and me

Carol took this picture of Jacqueline and me, and although it was taken before our lunch (as you might notice from the clouds), I wanted to end this post with a picture that included me! The hike was around eight-ish miles in total (the Super Hikers added at least another three), with around 1,500 feet up and down (nothing like last week), but now I'm sitting in my chair, writing this post, and hoisting my wine glass to a simply wonderful day and wonderful friends!
:-)