Ptarmigan Ridge, Mt. Baker Wilderness - 11-1-2007

There was a light dusting of powder on the highway as I approached Heather Meadows, which made me very excited to see what it was like higher up.  I left the upper ski area parking lot around 10am and started skining about a mile or so from the lot.  It was a beautiful morning, and ended up being nice out all day long!!  Since it was my first time up at Artist Point that I havent been standing in the clouds with no visibility, I decided to explore some of the the areas ajacent to the Artist Point parking lot.  There was 2-3 inches of powder everywhere on top of a decent base.  I ran in to two groups of snow boarders near the Artist Point lot later in the day.  One group of two I chatted with for a while and they even offered me a beer, which I gladly accepted!!  Later on I toured Ptarmigan Ridge to the saddle with the steep drop off past the Chain Lakes - Ptarmigan Ridge interchange.  The table mountain trail was 99% snow covered, being only spotty in a few places.  It was also icy in a few places, most likely because of the the hot sun beating down on the trail on days like this one.  A few more inches of snow are needed to ski safely off the table mountain trail, as lots of rocks still remained exposed.  However, I did spot a few lines that looked like they might be fun farther down the trail.  Light clouds drifted in and out of the Ptarmigan Ridge / Table Mountain area early in the day, so I'm glad I waited to make the trip towards the ridge later in the day.  Overall, even though I did not get any serious turns in, I am completely satisfied with the days touring endeavors.  I made my return trip with the sun setting behind Mount Baker and me, and made it back to my truck around 6:45pm when it was just starting to be completely dark out.  The stars as I'm sure they usually are when there is no cloud cover were absolutely amazing.
Check out the rest of the photos at http://www.the808.net/gallery/november-2007