Our adventure to Ptarmigan Ridge & Goat Lake

With all the Ninja and swim competitions this past summer, we almost let the entire season slip by without a trip to the mountains.

Fortunately, all 4 of us were up for an early-morning departure to the Mt Baker Wilderness for what would become a memorable 10.6 miles and a solid 7 hours of pure play-time.

We arrived at the almost-empty parking area at Artist Point around 7:45 on Sunday morning.

The hike starts by following the Chain Lakes trail, then about 1 mile in you veer onto Ptarmigan Ridge (PR).The PR trail is mostly a level traverse, with very little up or down compared to almost every other near-Baker hike we've done.

The views, right from the start and all the way through, are INSANE.

Admittedly, there was a fairly significant amount of wildfire smoke that slightly lessened the soul-rocking views, but only slightly.

Smoke or no smoke, you are surrounded by unadulterated MOUNTAIN MAJESTY and it is both humbling and inspiring all at once.

Here are some photos from the trail...

Now, we do love our hiking and taking in the vistas around every turn...

And we had totaly started the day expected the actual hike to be the highlight.But then we were gifted a most pleasant and welcome twist!

Nestled in a valley just south of the trail is the most beautiful, emerald blue, high-mountain lake you could ever hope for.

That is Goat Lake.

It took us all of about 3 minutes to strip off our hiking heart and start jumping, swimming, circumnavigating, and living our best life at Goat Lake!

Mile-high, glacier-fed lakes tend to be on the cold side, so naturally that inspired a competition between Heather, Hayden and I, to see who could swim the furthest before the ice cream headache became too great.

Heather (wisely) waited for Hayden and I to reach our limits, then she went and (obviously) crushed us both with a solid 30-yard swim.

After swimming, we lazed on the sunny beach, ate our fill of fruit, sandwiches and chocolate...

And regretted not having our overnight gear!

What a perfect place to camp!We vowed to return to this awesome wilderness swimming hole for a proper camp-out in the near future.

I highly recommend you spend time on ANY of the Mt. Baker Wilderness trails.

If you want a high-value hike with dramatic views yet relative ease (because there's not a lot of climbing), Ptarmigan Ridge to Goat Lake should be very high up on your list.