Ptarmigan Ridge, Coleman Pinnacle and Goat Lake, solo backpack, 8.30.22-8.31.22
With a little window of free time I wanted to take advantage of some good weather. None of the usual suspects were available to join me so I decided to do a one night solo backpack. This is something I have only done a few times but I enjoy the feeling of being truly self-reliant and the freedom it provides, especially regarding photography. It’s not like that has been a problem with other people but mentally I find it nice to go where I want to go, when I want to go and to take as much time as I want on any given shot. However, with all that said, I do prefer to hike with others simply to have someone to enjoy the experience with.
For this trip I decided to scratch two long time desires off my list. I left Lake Stevens at 3:45AM and drove two and a half hours to Artist Point between Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. My timing was perfect. After shouldering my backpack (which was quite light for a one nighter) I started down the Chain Lakes Loop Trail just as the sun kissed the summit of Mount Baker. The mountain is right in front of you as you hike so I got to watch the entire sunrise as I made my way down the trail.
Mount Baker sunrise
Trail to the saddle junction
In very short order I reached a saddle in the ridge and a junction. To the right, the Chain Lakes Loop basically circumnavigates Table Mountain, passing several lovely little lakes along the way, eventually dropping you down to Bagley Lakes and Heather Meadows. The only problem with this hike is that it’s a long steep road walk or hike to get back up to Artist Point so that hike is best done with two cars.
My destination was down the road less traveled called the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail. Neighbor Greg and I hiked this trail on the exact same date way back in 2013 and I hadn’t been back since. On that day, we had hiked about seven miles out to a really cool pair of gigantic rock bluffs known as the Portals. It was a long day but very rewarding. We had seen a pea green lake way off down in a basin from the trail and I had been eager to go check that lake out ever since. My plan was to spend the night at the lake and explore its environs.
View from the junction saddle. The Ptarmigan Ridge Trail drops down, crosses this basin, climbs up to the top of the flat ridge in the shadow, then traverses along a rocky wall before climbing to a shoulder seen in the upper left side of the photo. Then you’re only halfway there!
As I mentioned in the beginning of this narrative, I had two things I was interested in on this trip. Other than seeing the lake, I have wanted to climb Coleman Pinnacle for the better part of thirty years. It is a very prominent point that sticks up over Ptarmigan Ridge and can be seen from many spots. Every time we car camped at Baker Lake and went out in Bob and Dana’s boat I would stare up at Mount Baker and dream of the day I would climb Coleman Pinnacle.
While it can be seen along almost all of this hike, once you attain the high shoulder the trail curves around to the opposite side of Ptarmigan Ridge and Coleman Pinnacle (along with Mount Baker) dominates the scene.
Mount Baker and Coleman Pinnacle
Despite its menacing look, I have read that the climb of Coleman Pinnacle is actually not nearly as hard as it looks. The common route is to approach it from its south side. Once at the base of the summit block it is considered a class 3 rock scramble. This means that it requires frequent use of hands and feet. The reports that I have read have stated it is not too challenging so I felt comfortable giving it a whirl. I am also quite comfortable with deciding to bail on a climb if it gets too uncomfortable for my skill level so I was prepared to do just that if necessary.
My original plan was to hike to the lake, set up camp and then hike back up to climb Coleman Pinnacle. However, once the trail passed by the base of the pinnacle and almost to the side trail that drops down to the lake, I could see that the drop down to the lake was farther than I remembered and also loses a lot of vertical along the way. As long as I was right there, it made more sense to climb it while I was here.
I stashed my backpack behind a rock, took a quick break to throw a couple of things into my day pack, filtered some fresh, icy cold water from a nearby stream and got ready to climb. By the way, after seeing Dick using one, I bought a BeFree water filter and I absolutely love it! It’s so simple. It is just a one liter squeezable rubberized bladder with a screw on filter and a spout. It has way better flow than any other filter I’ve ever owned and you can also use it like a Lifestraw and just drink straight from it.
But I stray. From the point I left the trail it was obvious that Coleman Pinnacle was actually more of a double summit. It looked like the easiest access was to climb up to the saddle between the two summits and then tackle the pinnacle. A series of small snowfields and some scree led me to where I needed to be. From my vantage point on the saddle it looked even more wicked but as is the case for many climbs, the routes reveal themselves as you get up close and personal with them.
Coleman Pinnacle from where I left the trail. Looks pretty easy from that vantage point. I climbed up to the ridge line and then followed the ridge over to the saddle.
Coleman Pinnacle from the saddle. Looking a bit harder now. Mt. Shuksan in the background.
The summit block from the top of the false summit
The climb turned out to be fine. There were plenty of handholds and stable rocks to hold and it felt very comfortable to me. The route basically stayed on or very close to the center ridge line in the photo. I thought I was at the top at one point but it turned out to be a false summit. Less than ten minutes later I was on the top of Coleman Pinnacle and the views were outstanding in every direction!
The view south from Coleman Pinnacle. You can see the lake I planned to spend the night at on the left side of the photo.
The view north from Coleman Pinnacle. Table Mountain and the Chain Lakes/Ptarmigan Ridge junction are at the bottom of the photo. I started my day to the right of Table Mountain. The peaks in the background are in Canada, eh.
Left to right: Mt Larrabee, The Pleiades and Mount Slesse (Canada). You can also see the sun reflecting off the window of the Winchester Lookout on the right side of the photo.
Mount Baker from the summit of Coleman Pinnacle. You can see the Portals on the right side of the photo. Neighbor Greg and I climbed the right hand portal in 2013.
After soaking up the views and taking some photos it was time to descend and retrieve my pack. I carefully made my way down to the saddle where I had left my hiking poles. Instead of following the ridge back I ended up just going straight down from the saddle. It was steep but not an issue and soon I was back at my backpack.
After crossing a short snowfield I was at the turnoff to the lake. Now before going any further, I have a complaint. This would be the third Goat Lake in Washington State I have backpacked to. One is on the Mountain Loop Highway, one is in the Goat Rocks Wilderness and now this one. You would think the Ministry of Lake Naming would have a little more creativity when deciding what to call a lake. Somebody in the organization should have thumbed through the Book of Washington Lakes and determined that Goat Lake was already taken. If I ran the Ministry of Lake Naming I would have suggested something like Kulshan Lake. Kulshan is the Lummi tribe’s name for Mount Baker and since it is not being used for a lake and seeing how it is reasonably close to said mountain, it would be a fitting name.
Okay, now that I got that off my chest, back to our saga. From the Ptarmigan Trail, a clear side trail dropped down a steep hill, crossed a moonscape of volcanic wasteland and then dropped again down to Goat Lake. The lake itself is an incredible pea soup color that several other glacial lakes have. The lake was completely melted out but snow still lingered on the shoreline in various spots. The north side of the lake had more flat ground and there were several established flattened out tent spots. These weren’t actual campsites. No fire rings, picnic tables or walk-up espresso. Just a flat spot to pitch a tent. No one else was camped at the lake so I found a site on the far end of the lake in a spot where Mount Baker towered directly across the lake from my site.
Goat Lake from the trail
Goat Lake and Mount Baker
My tent site at Goat Lake
I had gotten such an early start from home and made good time hiking out and climbing Coleman Pinnacle so by the time I arrived at Goat Lake it was still morning. After setting up my camp I was ready to explore the area around the lake. Across from me were some really nice rocky outcroppings so I worked my way around the end of the lake and climbed up onto the rocks. As I played around up there, several other people came and went from the lake but they were all day trippers. A couple of them even swam (briefly) but I tested the water and determined it was too cold for me. Behind my camp was a ridge and that also begged for exploration. Getting to the ridge top was an easy short climb and it offered up exceptional views to Mount Shuksan and the northern sector of North Cascades National Park. Unfortunately, a recent fire had broken out and there was a bit of haze in that direction. Luckily, the wind also seemed to be blowing to the north so Mount Baker was still very clear.
These rocky outcroppings were fun to scramble around on. Love that lake color!
Does this say “Let’s swim” to you?
Mount Shuksan towers over the ridge behind my camp. My tent was too close to the base of the ridge to see anything until I climbed to the the top.
Closeup of Mount Shuksan, one of my favorite peaks in the state.
After roaming all around the lake area it was still only two o’clock. I had zero shade as this was more of a glacial wasteland and there weren’t any trees. It was warm but not too terribly hot and there were no bugs to bother me. I just sat in my camp chair, put another layer of sunscreen on and just enjoyed the scenery. Several people would come down the hill to the lake but none came over to my end of the lake and they all left by around two or three. After that I was completely alone the rest of the night and the morning.
Around four it was starting to cool down a tad so I made dinner early. I didn’t even need a stove. I have a really tasty backpacking meal called Kick’n Chicken Hot Wings. You actually add cold water, let it constitute, then add the provided mayo packet and hot sauce packet. Stir it all up and you have a spicy chicken salad of sorts. I brought a few tortillas so I made chicken salad wraps. For water, I had a snowmelt stream very close to my camp and the water was icy cold and delicious. Because my new water filter is so easy and efficient, I drank tons of water during those warm hours of the day.
I knew that sunset wasn’t until 7:53PM, so I still had a couple of hours to kill. As the sun slowly sank lower in the sky, I packed up my cameras and a fresh icy cold bottle of water and headed back up to the ridge which would provide me both views north towards Mount Shuksan but also overlooking my camp and the lake to Mount Baker. It would be the perfect spot to enjoy my after dinner cigar and see the sun set. As I crested the top of the ridge and my view northward came into view, I was greeted not only with Mount Shuksan, but a huge plume of fire smoke that wasn’t there at all when I had gone up earlier. I’m sure it must have been the same fire that I already knew about based on its location but it looked like it had flared up and was really raging. To be honest, it kind of freaked me out it was so ominous looking. It was still too far away for me to consider evacuating and what little wind there was still appeared to push it north and away from my position so I found a nice rock, lit up my cigar and enjoyed the evening immensely.
Mount Shuksan and the Brush Creek Fire. Yikes!
Once the sun sank below the horizon I dropped back down to camp and relaxed in my chair by the lake. Oftentimes, after the sun sets, the breezes die down and sure enough, the lake began to get that glassy look as the moon set behind Mount Baker. A fine end to a fine day!
Wispy cloud near sunset time
Evening glow on Mount Baker
The moon just before it dropped below Mount Baker
I set my alarm for 5:40AM for a 6:23AM sunrise. During the night, which was almost too warm at sixty degrees, the wind must have shifted and I could smell the smoke from the forest fire. I ended up getting up a little before the alarm. A few little clouds really added to the sunrise, the colors on Mount Baker’s glaciers slightly muted by low clouds. Still, it was a beautiful sunrise. I had already packed up so I left to head back to the car by 6:30AM, taking photos along the way. The varying lighting conditions provided me with some nice subjects.
Sunrise on Koma Kulshan
Beautiful Mount Baker sunrise
One last look at Goat Lake
A few storm clouds brewing in the distance
The trail from Goat Lake leading back up to the Ptarmigan Trail. Coleman Pinnacle behind.
Neon green moss below Coleman Pinnacle
Final look back at where I was
This was a very satisfying excursion. It was close enough and I got an early enough start to really have the time to explore and enjoy the immediate area. Climbing Coleman Pinnacle and camping at Goat Lake have been on my to do list for a very long time so it was also really rewarding to finally do both of them.
I also enjoyed doing this as a one night backpack. It’s not a huge commitment to just take off for one night. It’s easy to pack for, it usually means that where you’re going is relatively easy to get to and allows enough time to soak up the vibe of the area you go to. I’m a fan and see myself doing this sort of thing more often in the future.