A pretty reliable location for White-tailed Ptarmigan, in my experience,
is the ridge between Panorama Point and Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. You
don't have to get much higher than Panorama Point - in fact, the last
couple I saw were _on_ Panorama Point, in early April, while I was
extricating myself in a white-out. They were still in winter plumage, and
came to my attention when two clumps of snow at my feet suddenly developed
red eyebrows, walked off to about ten feet away, sat down, put their
eyebrows away .... and became virtually impossible to see, even though I
knew exactly where they were. Amazing fowl.

James West