[sospeso]

Hello all, I've been a long time lurker to the board but this is my first post. While in Seattle (I was born and raised there and return frequently from NY to visit family) for vacation, I've been trying to squeeze in 6 months of hi(n)king in about 3 three days. I have one day in the Mt. Baker area and I'm currently deciding between 2 day hikes: Heliotrope Ridge or Ptarmingan Ridge, neither of which I've done. I would prefer to do Ptarmigan only because I have a borrowed car and the road is entirely paved. I've only seen one trip report saying that there partial snow coverage. Has anyone been up there and can tell me if the trail is passable and safe? I could do Heliotrope, but my two concerns are the status of the road to the TH and the three creek crossings one most encounter on the trail. What can I expect at this point in the year from those creeks? Thanks for your suggestions and advice in advance.

[David¹]

Ptarmigan - USFS says it is only partially melted out - carries snow late into the year - some people may be uncomfortable crossing snowfields without an ice axe. Heliotrope - road is well graded & heavily used - should not be a concern. Only the last creek crossing presents any sort of difficulty - not dangerous but it requires either a big leap or wading through knee deep water. My suggestion - do Heliotrope first - but do it really early in the morning when the water level is at it's lowest. Trail is only 3 miles to the glacier so you could easily get there in less than 2 hours. Back at you car at mid day - drive to the end of Artist's Point & do the first part of Ptarmigan Ridge which will be completely melted out & have a heathy dose of flowers.

[jenjen]

The creeks on Heliotrope are running kind of high from all the rain we had last week. They're not dangerous or hard, just kind of deep so bring wading shoes or prepare for cold feet. The road is entirely doable in my old Volvo station wagon. The road to Artist's Point is currently open, but you'll find several feet of snow still on the north and east sides of the ridges. This translates to be prepared for snow travel on the last half of the trail.

[Scrooge]

[David¹]

To be honest I only remember two & the first was fairly braided & wasn't much of a concern. Here is a pic of the 'second' one - taken on the afternoon of August 24th, 2002

HeliotropeCrossing

[Elvis]

I went to Baker to do Ptarmigan Ridge on Saturday. With the lack of visibility of Mt. Baker we instead spent our time on the Chain Lakes trail. This picture is taken from the Chain Lakes Trail on 7-9-05 where Ptarmigan Ridge trail branches off (about 1 mile from the parking lot). You can see the Ptarmigan Ridge trail in the pic. The trail descriptions I've read have included warnings about losing your bearings on this trail in bad weather (although it looks pretty easy to follow from here) so we played it safe and saved if for a better-weather day (today would have been perfect!). I agree with an earlier poster... start with Heliotrope early and then venture out to Ptarmigan... what the heck, you're already in the neighborhood and the elevation change isn't significant for at least the first two miles. ~E

[Scrooge]

[David¹]

And finally here we have a pic of the first creek...

FirstCreek

[Scrooge]

Nope. That's the third creek. I don't know how you number stream crossings, but I number them from the trailhead to the destination.

Another view of THIRD CREEK

[Hiker Boy]

The hardest creek crossing(the last I think) on Heliotrope can easily be crossed if you head further upstream. Take the climber's route to the hogsback and then head across to Surveyor's Rock. I'm betting that Ptarmigin is still a little wet and snow covered. My advice is that if you have a nice day, do Ptarmigin and if it's cloudy, do Heliotrope. Heliotrope is quite scenic even with Baker is covered in cloud because of the Coleman icefall.

[Slugman]

I was just up the road to Heliotrope ridge two weeks ago, and darned if I don't remember it as paved almost the whole way. In any case, the road is really good by forest service standards, no problem for any car. The creek crossings are not that hard. Follow the advice already given on the last crossing, which is: head slightly uphill, just a couple of hundred yards, to where the stream channel is braided, and then cross the braids one at a time, jumping a bit, pole vaulting a bit, and your feet will stay nice and dry.

[sospeso]

Thank you all for your input. As expected I received many thoughtful, intelligent and studied responses. Thanks for all the pics too. On the next clear day, I think I'll head for heliotrope and then swing over to ptarmigan and see how far I get.