Ptarmigan Ridge — Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024

Since the seasonal closure started last week, the hike began at the lower parking lot. I left the parking lot at about 5:40am when the temperature was a pleasant 35F with calm winds. The half moon almost directly overhead lit up the road (which I used both up and down rather than the Wild Goose side trail) to Artist Point so well that I did not use any lights. The first snow of note started around 4500 feet, around the Lake Ann trailhead elevation. It was only about a half inch to an inch all the way to the Lake loop junction. Upon descent into the Ptarmigan realm, snow increased to about 3-4 inches all the way to the Camp Kiser overlook and was perfect for hiking (with poles and traction). Weather started out nice with lots of beautiful light play during sunrise and through all the fogbanks. At around 10:30am, what at first seemed like another fog bank rolled in over Camp Kiser. But, it turned into a light to moderate snow storm which I was in all the way back to Artist Point. The trail from Artist Point to the Lake Loop trail was fairly heavily tracked. The rest of the Ptarmigan route was not broken at all. About two-thirds of the way to my turnaround point was a group of five white Ptarmigans which were sometimes calling loudly with their odd sounds.