Trip Report - Mt. Baker

Sarah with her eyes on the prize.

Sarah and I decided to fill up our (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend with a trip down to Mt. Baker. Usually a spring ski trip or summer climb, the moderate temps and good forecast gave us the confidence to head out for a climb up the Coleman-Demming Route - one of the more relatively low key on the mountain.

Feeling confident as we left Vancouver early Sunday morning, we had a small setback when Sarah asked if I had remembered to turn off the toaster oven after making bagels.

"I've never forgotten before. I don't think I forgot today"

"But do you remember turning it off?"

"Well... No."

So, after a quick trip back home to confirm that it was not in flames, we found ourselves at the border and soon after, at Rocket Donuts in Bellingham for a snack. We hit the trailhead around noon and started hiking towards Heliotrope Ridge. The approach is relatively uneventful until you start ascending the ridge proper where the Coleman Glacier and Mt. Baker itself come into view.

Nice view right out the tent door.

Sarah enjoying Spicy Sausage Pasta Dinner.

Couldn't take our eyes off where we were going.

We pressed on and found a campsite a little under two hours after leaving the car. Situated at the toe of the glacier, we had a nice view of several parties descending the mountain and working their way among the late season crevasses on the final slope. Kicking ourselves for not bringing a book, we made do by taking pictures and trying to entertain eachother until dinnertime. By sunset around 7:30, we were both ready for bed and looking forward to getting into our warm sleeping bags.

High on the route gave good views of the North Cascades and Mt. Rainier.

The Roman Wall - the final section toward the summit. Rock step can be seen near the top. 

Heavily crevassed Demming Glacier,

Crevasses on the Coleman Glacier.

Our alarm went off at 5:00am and we had a quick breakfast before setting off up the glacier. We made good time across the football field (a flat expanse of glacier low on the route) and managed to stay out of the sun until we reached the col between Mt. Baker and Colfax Peak (Pumice Ridge). Normally an easy snow ridge to the summit, we had to climb a short steep section of nearly vertical frozen sand and volcanic rock. Wondering how we would get back down, we continued up the ridge to the final steep section of the climb, the Roman Wall. Easy steps up snow for the most part, a rock step covered in ice was the trickiest part of the day, one we would belay eachother down. From here it was a quck walk across the summit icecap to the true summit, Grant Peak. We signed the register, had a snack and started back down.

LaSportiva boot summit party.

Sarah signing the summit register.

 Mt. Shuksan.

Summit Photo.

The biggest excitement was getting off Pumice Ridge to the glacier below the Baker-Colfax Col. We avoided our sandy slope by descending the ridge further and found a rappel station - really just some cord around a big volcanic boulder perched precariously on the ridge. It felt solid so I first lowered Sarah down on our rope and then set up a rappel for myself. Afterward, I kicked myself for not sending the camera with Sarah, so no action photos of the exciting part. Oh well...

Sarah high on Pumice Ridge.

Descending the Roman Wall.

Looking up at our rappel off Pumice Ridge.

After the rap, we started the never ending glacier slog back to camp. We made good time considering the late season conditions and several breaks and quickly packed up our camp as the sun started to go down. The hike back to the car was slow and hard on the toes but we made it. I had a minor meltdown on the ride back to the nearest gas station as the car was telling me it was out of coolent but it was almost all downhill so we filled up and made tracks for Bellingham.

Descending the lower glacier slopes.

Time to put on the sunscreen.

Sarah leading through crevasses on the descent.

Almost back to camp with a big serac behind.

We capped off the trip with dinner at the Chuckanut Brewery in Bellingham (very good) and with a short wait at the border, made it home in time for bed by 11:00.
Gear Notes:

• 30m 8mm rope was perfect.
• Had 1 ice screw and 2 snow pickets. The glacier surface was almost always too hard to ever take a picket. Would have been better to bring additional ice screws for the few sections of low angle alpine ice we had to cross. (Especially the rock step near the top of the Roman Wall.
• Should have brought some cord for a rap anchor, especially to get off Pumice Ridge. Luckily a group the previous day had left some solid looking cord.
• BD Venom Hammer paired with a single Leki Aergonlite 2 Carbon ski pole was perfect for walking on the glacier.
• Grivel aluminum crampons were unbelievably light and performed well on the neve and even the icy steps.