After all the p-twittering on p-tweeters about p-tarmigan on Mount
Rainier's Skyline Trail, I took a look on August 5-7, to no avail.

Another place where you can drive clear up to the subalpine zone is at
Heather Meadows/Artist's Point on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
The area has ptarmigan but is more disected by steep canyons than the Paradise
area and doesn't have such huge expanses of habitat within easy trail access.
But, on August 19, a hen and 2/3-grown chick were about 300 yards from the
parking lot on the Chain Lakes-Ptarmigan Ridge Trail at 7:45 am when few if
any people had already passed by that day. Also, a band of mountain goats
were grazing on a distant hillside at that hour.

The hour seems important. The previous day I'd explored 3 or 4 miles of
the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail, starting at mid-day and seeing only a few juncos,
pipits, and ravens. When I was still outbound, a man coming back told of a
ptarmigan near the parking lot, obviously a few hours earlier.

Al Wagar
Shoreline