I've only snowshoed to Artist Point in the winter, but with this sunny weather, I couldn't resist trying it in May. It's definitely different - not quite the fluffy powder winter wonderland of February, but it was still a blast!
The road to the top was bare and dry, that's a nice bonus when you do this in May :) Plenty of parking, there were only a few people there on this Monday morning. Bathrooms were open and relatively clean, but BYOTP for sure.
There is still PLENTY OF SNOW up there, in case you are wondering. But it looks different than in winter, features and landmarks are more familiar. I started on the usual snowshoe route, but then took the actual road for awhile (it was much more obvious and open, since the ski resort is closed). Did a mix of the road and the usual route up to the top, but you could probably snowshoe up the road the whole time if you wanted - that may be the path of least resistance (but the longest option).
At the top, I wandered around, enjoying the amazing views from different high points. Kulshan and Shuksan were right there in your face, of course. I tried to find the bathroom in the parking lot - I assumed the top of it would be visible, but NOPE. Still buried under all that snow.
Eventually, I headed back down. Only saw two other people on the route, I was grateful for the rare solitude of a sunny day at Artist Point. Total of 3.6 miles, 890 feet elevation, just over two hours total time.
TWO IMPORTANT THINGS:
Snow conditions - In a word, sloppy. It was 50+ degrees when I arrived at 7:30am, and the snow was soft from the start. You could probably boot it (traction would help), but I wanted to snowshoe, and I'm glad I did. It was a more difficult slog to the top than in fluffy powder, but look for other snowshoe tracks and just follow them, slow and steady. On the way down, half the time I was accidentally standing glissading - I would take one step and slide several feet. I'm pretty paranoid about safety, and though I felt a little out of control (and fell on my behind a few times), I never felt in danger, mostly because the snow was so smooshy. The way down was the best part!
Temperature - People, it was WARM. I usually snowshoe in hiking pants with a polypro layer underneath. Man, I wish I had left that polypro layer in the car, my legs just cooked the whole time. I was too lazy to do anything about it, so that's on me. But I was in short sleeves the whole time for sure. Sun hat was helpful, also sunglasses and sunscreen (though it was from 2022 so when I got home I realized it wasn't very effective - oops). I went through a liter of water, I could have probably brought twice that. Go early to beat that heat, there isn't much shade once the sun clears Shuksan.
Grateful to be up in the mountains today!
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