Ptarmigan Ridge and Beyond Hike in the North Cascades

We choose a fabulous hike for the last weekend of summer: Ptarmigan Ridge located at the end of the Mt Baker Highway at Artist Point. Many guides list this hike as 4 miles out to Coleman Pinnacle, however on high snow melt years (like this summer) the trail continues out onto the Portals on Mt Baker for an 11 mile round trip hike with about 1800 ft elevation gain in and about 700 ft gain out.

The trail begins on the west end of Artist Point and begins along the Chain Lakes Trail heading west toward Mt Baker and into the Mt Baker Wilderness.

Along this portion of the trail the view extends from Mt Shuksan to the east and Mt Baker to the west:

 1.2 miles along the trail divides, Chain Lakes to the right and Ptarmigan Ridge to the left. The panoramic views continue:

 Here the trail descends into a rocky basin for 200 ft, then regains the elevation on to Ptarmigan Ridge and through some high meadows. Here, looking back along the trail toward Mt Shuksan:

There is a fabulous view point about 3 miles along the trail. To the west: Mt Baker and Coleman Pinnacle, then turning to the east:

 Mt Shuksan










 We continued along the trail crossing one snow field on the way to Coleman Pinnacle.

Panorama view standing where the trail goes around Coleman Pinnacle:

 About 4 miles out from the trailhead, the trail goes around Coleman Pinnacle. You can choose to hike down to a pair of turquoise tarns, scramble up Coleman Pinnacle or continue towards Mt Baker.
 Looking back along the trail as we go around Coleman Pinnacle.

 The trail becomes narrow and rocky as it nears Mt Baker. The large black block looking rocky prominence is The Portals East where our trail will end. The path goes up the east end of Portals east, by passing the large steep snow field on the north side.

 It is a steep rocky path up The Portals East, going higher than the low end of Rainbow Glacier.
Here looking back toward Coleman Pinnacle (Mt Shuksan is on the far right).

 One last snow field to cross near the top of The Portal East.

On top of The Portal East! Great spot to eat lunch and enjoy the views.

Mt Baker looking into Rainbow Glacier.

On the right side The Portals West and The Portals South can be seen.

Panorama view: Mt Shuksan to the east, Cascade Range to the south (we could see Glacier Mountain and Mount Rainier in the distance) and Mt Baker to the west.

 Panorama view: Mt Baker to the west, Cascade Range to the north (looking into Canada) and Mt Shuksan to the east.

 Looking into the crevices on Rainbow Glacier:

 zoom photo of Glacier Mountian

 Hawk flying overhead as we hiked back.














The trail back was heading back toward Mt Shuksan with the sun at our backs.

We did find wildflowers along this hike on the last day of summer:

Comet Falls, Van Trump Park and Beyond on Mt Rainier

 Today's forecast was cloudy with 20% chance of rain. We headed up to Mt Rainier for a hike I've been wanting to do for awhile. Last September, we hiked up to Comet Falls and up, bypassing the side trail to Van Trump Park and on to Mildred Point. It was a great hike, but I've been curious about that side trail to Van Trump Park, reading mixed reviews. So today we hiked to Van Trump Park, it is now on my list of favorite hikes!
The trail starts just before Christine Falls, about 10 mile from the Nisqually Entrance. We hiked passed the end of the "maintained trail" for a total of 8.5 miles round trip with 3,000 ft of elevation gain.
It is a steep hike almost the entire hike.

 A short distance up the trail, a bridge crosses Van Trump Creek above Christine Falls. The Falls can not be seen here, but Van Trump Creek tumbles down towards the falls both above the bridge and

 below the bridge.

The trail to Comet Falls is mostly in the woods, providing shade on this steep trail. The trail follows Van Trump Creek with many opportunities to view the creek and the many cascades coming downhill.

 We found some ripe blueberries along this popular trail.

There was an area along the trail where we could see Mt Rainier up ahead, cloud over the top. We hoped the cloud would not descend before we reached Van Trump Park.

About 1.6 miles up the trail, a log bridge crosses a side creek with views of Bloucher Falls.

Continue on the trail where you will soon see

Comet Falls (392 ft) is 1.9 miles from the trailhead with a 1200+ ft elevation gain. 

The trail now ascends steep switchbacks gaining 650 ft in 0.6 miles.

Here the trail divides, to the left down Rampart Ridge with the spur trail to Mildred Point. To the right, the spur trail to Van Trump Park.

A short way up this spur, the trail opens into a meadow with a view of Mt Rainier. The trail to the left gives an overlook of Mt Rainier, the trail to the right continues up to Van Trump Park.

0.3 miles from where the Van Trump Park Trail begins, the "maintained trail" ends. But there is a very clear boot path that continues.

Looking south from this point we could see in the distance

 Mt St Helens and

Mt Adams

Just beyond the sign marking the end of the "maintained trail" the view open up toward Mt Rainier. We decided to follow the boot trail until we needed to turn around at noon.

 We could see many waterfalls coming off of Mt Rainier.

We took a short break in Van Trump Park to enjoy the views. Panorama looking north to east to south:

 Panorama looking south and west.

Close up of Van Trump Glacier on Mt Rainier.

We continued up the boot trail, through a meadow where wildflowers were still in bloom,

 looking back toward the Tatoosh Range and brief glimpse of Mt Adams & Mt St Helens being lost in the clouds.

 More waterfalls.

 Reaching another high meadow, beyond the tall trees, the green hill on the right is Mildred Point (where we hiked to last September).

 We stopped to eat lunch, then decided to hike a little further on this ridge line.

Where we had a great view of Mt Rainier between the trees. We hiked about 0.75 miles beyond the end of the "maintained trail", when it was time for us to turn around.

On the way back down the trail, we looked back and saw the cloud had lifted off the mountain, BEAUTIFUL!

 We also saw many gray jays and

 butterflies,

















Here are some of the many wildflowers and berries we saw today:

We stopped at the Longmire Visitor Center to look at this relief map of Mt Rainier to get a better idea of where we hiked today. We hope to return one day and hike a little further than we did today.

9/28/14: Hiked up to the saddle between Eagle Peak and Chutla Peak. Had a great view of Mt Rainier looking toward Van Trump Park. Took this picture and drew a red line where we had hiked up to Van Trump Park and beyond!