Now that we have completed the waterfall mini-series, it's back to mountains and lakes again. This week we head to Ptarmigan Ridge Trail located in the Heather Meadows area of Mount Baker State Park, WA. Specifically, the trailhead to Ptarmigan Ridge Trail can be found next to the Artist Point parking lot. The Ptarmigan Ridge Trail is a 19km out-and-back trail with about 740m elevation gain.

We only hiked about half way on this trail, and turned around at about the 5km point because forecast was calling for rain and we saw the clouds coming in quick. We still saw some spectacular views along the way and also got a very good look of Mount Baker up close before it got covered by clouds. Along our hike, we met a father with his two daughters picking something in the bushes. When we approached and asked, they told us they were picking wild blue berries and shared with us some berries that they already picked. After learning these berries were edible, my kids kept picking and eating them during our hike, which made it a bit more entertaining for them I suppose. I was also glad we decided to turn back halfway through the hike, because it started to rain shortly after we got back to the parking lot. As we did not wear our rain gear with us, it was best to cut the hike short and get back to the car before the rain came down. Another reason for cutting the hike short was that my little one hiked this one on his own, but he was still young when he did the hike, so I thought we will cut him some slack and only do a 10km hike instead of the full 19km. He managed the complete the whole 10km hike happily without any complaints. I guess we could come back another time when my little one is older, with more physical endurance, and we can complete the full hike then.

Info board at the trailhead.

Mount Baker standing tall in the background.

Beginning portions of the trail. This part is shared with the Chain Lakes Trail.

Surrounding mountain range.

The weather was quite nice that morning.

Another shot of Mount Baker.

The fork between Ptarmigan Ridge Trail and Chain Lakes Trail.

We continued on the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail and continued closer to Mount Baker.

We learned from a dad and his two daughters that these are wild blue berries and they are edible. My kids started picking and eating them along the rest of the hike.

More barren and rocking area of the hike.

The trail continues on barren land.

The red are from the wild blueberry bushes. A lot of the bushes changed colors because it was approaching autumn at the time.

This is where we stopped our hike and enjoyed a snack before heading back.

I believe the tall mountain in the middle is Mount Shuksan and this is the North Cascades Mountain Range. I might be wrong though, so don't take my work for it.

While having our snacks, we saw clouds quickly approaching covering up Mount Baker.

The weather changed rather quickly. Baker was soon completely covered in clouds. If you look closely at this photo, you will see the continuation of the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail at the right side of the photo. We did not continue onto this section.

We saw a huge mushroom on our way back to the parking lot.

The whole sky turned overcast. The higher peaks were blocked by clouds.

More and more clouds. Someone made a pattern with rocks on the ground.

We've reached the beginning sections of the trail. What a big difference it was in terms of weather within just a few hours.

It started to rain shortly after we got back to the parking lot and continued to do so as we drove away.

Check out my previous hikes: