Climbing Mount Baker (Easton Glacier July 2023 Trip Report)

July 1-2, 2023

*And a first attempt 6/24-6/25/2023.

Mileage: ~16 miles

Elevation Gain: ~7,600 ft

Elevation Profile:

GPS Track (from high camp to summit and back to high camp)

Map:

Route Description:

The route follows the Park Butte Trail, crossing Sulphur Creek. This crossing can feature high water, making it difficult during the early season, but there was a plank of wood serving as a bridge during our hike.

The trail eventually breaks off for Railroad Grade, not long after a water source marked by a sign. Both trails were well maintained and in good condition.

We camped at 6,500', next to the ridge that borders the glacier. This made for a very easy start to our summit day. We set our alarms for midnight and were on the move by 12:40AM.

The Easton Route varies depending on the condition of the glacier, but the crevasse crossings were still straightforward during our climb. We were able to easily ascend the glacier towards Sherman Peak, skirting below the rockfall-prone peak towards Sherman Crater and then up the Roman Wall as the sun rose.

We crossed the Football Field, and then climbed Grant Peak (to the right) for the true summit.

Trip Report:

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.

The weekend prior to our successful Baker summit, we attempted the mountain for the first time. I got a lot of sleep the week before, hydrated in the days leading up, and we cruised up the Railroad Grade Trail. I felt great.

I saw a woman from my Alpental ski clinic on the approach. Washington's mountaineering community is so small, it feels like every time we go out we run into someone we know.

Once at camp, Greg, Paul, Liz, and I made sure our crampons were sized to our boots, packed our bags for the summit push, and prepared the rope for the early morning climb.

Water sources: there were several meltwater ponds as well as streams of glacier run-off available close to our camp.

We ate dinner, then turned in around 6pm to try to get some sleep. Noise travels on the ridge, and it's light out until ~10pm, so ear plugs and a buff/jacket to use as a sleep mask are essential to decent rest.

Unfortunately for me, I ate half of a 700 calorie Range meal bar. It was very dense (and caffeinated, oops), and did not at all sit well in my stomach.

By 9pm, I was running back and forth out of the tent to get sick.

When our midnight alarms went off, we checked in with our team and unfortunately decided not to go up. It was the right call, I was now dehydrated and down a lot of calories. But watching the other teams crawl out of their tents to begin their summit day was difficult. I tried not to be too hard on myself about it.

Deciding to hike back down didn't feel very hardo, but the reality is we all choose to live in Seattle so we can have the privilege to climb these mountains every weekend. We don't have to push through a miserable, and potentially unsafe summit day, because this isn't our one chance to climb this mountain.

We could come back next weekend.

So, while still on the mountain, at the high camp bordering the glacier, we made plans to do exactly that.

I felt a bit jealous watching the successful teams return to camp from their summit bids, but reminded myself that that would be us next weekend! The weather was great and we enjoyed a beautiful hike out. I hoped that the sun and smoke-free skies would hold up next weekend as well.

Good things come to those who wait – because we got another beautiful weather window for 7/1-7/2.

Greg, Paul, and I returned as a team to make the trek on foot. We once again arrived to the Park Butte Trailhead around 9am.

Liz and her housemate, Roee would be meeting us up at camp, because they were planning to ski the route as a team of two this time. Roee had also made a Baker attempt a few weeks prior, but his team ended up turning back before the summit as well.

This trip would be a redemption arc for all of us!

We hiked up through the forest, crossed the stream, then the meadows, all on the Park Butte Trail.

So much snow had melted in just one week! The meadows were snow covered the week prior, and now the trail was completely melted out.

We reached the turnoff for Railroad Grade and headed up the dusty, crumbly trail with a steep drop-off to our right. We continued to the snow covered basin where we switched from trail runners to mountaineering boots. We headed up past Sandy Camp, until we reached our glacier-bordering high camp.

We camped in nearly the same location as last time (around ~6,500ft), and zipped through our chores. Last week was a great dress rehearsal. I didn't even have to resize my crampons this time.

Having already hiked the same trail last weekend, we made great time, and had loads of daylight left when we got to camp. We used it to practice our snow anchors and self arresting.

This week, I ate good ole Annie's vegan mac and cheese for dinner (and even ordered ~ultralight~ powdered oat milk for the occasion... and tested it on my stomach prior to the trip). I stuck to familiar snacks as well.

Last weekend, I was hot in my softshell pants during the approach so I brought shorts. This was super nice... I didn't sunscreen my legs though, and my calves paid for it due to the reflective snow in the snowy basin.

Liz and Roee joined us at our site and we caught up with them for a bit before it was time for bed (6:30pm)!

For the second week in a row, our alarms went off at 12am on Sunday morning. I had dreamt that we had climbed Baker and returned to our tents just as my alarm sounded. Time to do it "again"!

This time, I woke up healthy and ready. We gathered our supplies, scrambled over the loose rocky ridge to drop down onto the glacier, and tied into the rope.

After a safety check, we were moving by 12:40am. Before long, we were stepping over narrow, deep crevasses.

The winds were strong, with gusts up to ~40mph that sometimes made movement difficult. The wind lashed my pants against my sunburned legs as we struck our poles and axes into the icy snow and continued to push upwards.

We followed the traditional route pretty closely. The crevasses were beginning to open up, even just compared to last week, but they were still easily stepped or hopped over and we didn't have to end-run any or navigate around jumbled glacier.

A few hours in, we put our crampons on. While they weren't yet necessary, they made travel way easier and in the future I'd put them on earlier.

With the crampons on, we were able to travel much faster but the harsh winds had Greg and Paul still cold. They ended up putting on all of their layers, but my fear was keeping me warm in just my fleece.

We continued up, skirting past Sherman Peak and hurrying through the rockfall zone. Large chunks of rock lay frozen in the snow. Just before sunrise, we reached Sherman Crater and watched the steam rise out of the volcano.

For most of the ascent, we leapfrogged with a large group that had camped near us. One of their two rope teams had a young girl, who got scared just before Roman Wall, and they ended up turning back. The other team would climb quickly, but then take long breaks. Our slower but steadier pace had us passing each other a lot.

We set a lot of the bootpack on the way up, since the sun and wind had erased the previous day's efforts in many spots. By our descent, there were many bootpack highways kicked into the snow.

Just before the Roman Wall, we passed the other group for the last time and followed the switchbacks up. The Roman Wall is the steepest section of the Easton Route, 1,000 feet of ~35 degree snow. Pushing my comfort zone during ski season helped tremendously with my fear of heights and this section didn't feel too scary at all.

Still, it's important to take care here, as an avalanche or slip during icy conditions could result in a nasty fall.

Past the crux of the route, we crossed the "Football Field" and made the final push up Grant Peak to become the first team on Mount Baker that day.

Five and a half hours after we set out from camp, we were standing on the 10,781 foot summit of Mount Baker. A new highest point for me!

The summit was extremely cold and windy, so we quickly took in the views, made a summit register entry, took some photos, and began our descent.

We hid out behind some rocks just above the Roman Wall to fuel up while Greg fixed his crampon. I hadn't eaten or drank much at all on the climb. I was using my new Hyperlite Mountain Gear Headwall 55L bag; it distributed pack weight well, but accessing pockets (and therefore food/water) was difficult while on the move. The cold winds deterred me from taking breaks, so I simply powered up to the summit.

The lack of food and water caught up to me at the top, and my stomach began to hurt. Luckily after eating and drinking, I felt better. Learning from this, I now climb with a fanny pack full of snacks and I fixed the broken bite valve on my water bladder to ensure easy access to water.

Descending the Roman Wall took a very long time (at least an hour to an hour and a half) since we stayed in the boot pack and continuously yielded to the never ending stream of ascending climbers. In the future, it'd probably be better to avoid the traffic jam and make your own descent path if conditions allow.

Despite it being a holiday weekend, it was much less busy on the mountain than our trip the weekend prior– the Washington Alpine Club holds their graduation climb the last weekend of June and there seemed to be a lot more guided groups that week as well. I can't imagine how chaotic the Roman Wall must have been then.

Luckily, staring out at the views up there was an incredible way to pass the time and everyone was in high spirits being so close to the summit.

It was amazing to see the glacier views we missed in the dark. We were only on the glacier until about 11AM at the latest (a bit behind schedule due to the Roman Wall delays), but it was already getting slushy on the descent. If on foot and on a smaller team, it's definitely best to start early and try to be off the glacier by ~10AM.

The crevasses were opening up in the sun, now much wider than they were earlier in the morning.

Not long before camp, we ran into Liz and Roee on their way up to ski the peak! It was a nice morale boost to see some familiar faces.

We hung out at camp a bit to enjoy the alpine and eat a bit more, before packing up and hiking out.

The walk out was great, and I enjoyed chatting with all the climbers coming in and asking about conditions. Greg even saw his AIARE instructor – Washington's mountaineering community really is a small world.

The Easton Route sometimes gets flack for having snowmobilers, but late season that obviously wasn't an issue. I enjoyed the varied terrain of the old growth forest, alpine meadows, rocky ridges, and expansive glaciers. The mountain was bursting with life– berries ripening, wildflowers blooming, and marmots peaking out from behind rocks. Not to mention all the stoked climbers. The mountain is a classic for a reason.

Mount Baker is a beautiful peak, full of mountain magic. I'm already dreaming of returning, and experiencing other routes and other seasons, and maybe even on skis next season!

If at first you don't succeed, go up the very next weekend and try, try again!! :)

Gear List

Hiking Gear

• Cap + sunglasses / glacier glasses
• Wicking base layer, upper and lower
• Rain / wind layers
• Puffy
• Undergarments
• 2x pairs of socks
• Trail runners
• Backpack
• Map + compass
• Water bottles + filter
• Food
• First aid kit + repair kit
• Headlamp + spare batteries
• Trekking poles (left one at camp for the summit climb, but used both on approach)
• Sun screen
• Car gear: phone charger, spare water, shoes, clothes (for the drive home)

Overnight Gear

• Stove + fuel + pot + spork
• Dry food (repackaged for weight/space)
• Ursack/food storage system
• Insulating layers for camp
• Plastic bag (for trash)
• Sleeping bag (appropriate minimum temperature)
• Sleeping pad (appropriate for minimum temperature)
• Tent/sleeping system
• Toothbrush, toothpaste, toilet Paper, trowel, hand sanitizer

Glacier Gear

• Mountaineering boots
• Crampons
• Ice axe
• Lightweight gloves
• Waterproof gloves
• Harness
• Climbing helmet
• Crevasse rescue kit: picket (Yates V, mid-clip cable is best), pear locking carabiner, NanoTraxion on locker, Tibloc + pulley on locker, Hollowblock / Prusik cord on locker, double length sling on a carabiner, single length sling on a carabiner, extra locker + extra carabiner
• Rope (we used a lightweight 6mm Petzl Rad Line)
• Season dependent: skis/snowshoes, avalanche gear (beacon, probe, shovel, etc.)