Mt Baker Summit Trip 2001

“Well, Flirtin' Paul, Javier and myself set up base camp at 5800'on Heliotrope Ridge at
the edge of the glacier and quickly proceeded on the ice for pre-trip planning and rescue
techniques. Then it was suppertime!

We set out late betraying local lore as we stepped onto the glacier at 6 am with a gentle
rising sun. I didn't want to be point with only a headlamp. The crevasses are everywhere
due to the really warm summer here.

We trudged on in anticipation and once above the clouds, the whole summit opened up
letting us gaze at our destination. But that was short-lived as a huge cloud covered the
entire summit cap. We hoped it would clear again.

We stopped near Black Buttes near the col to add layers as the wind had picked up to
about 30 mph. We then belayed each other onto the pumice ridge and immediately saw what we
were headed for. Whiteout!

We stumbled up the loose crumbling ridge until we stepped onto ice again. The snow was
really mushy and postholes were numerous. After an hour of zero visibility, the stinging
sulfer fumes of the steam vents were an unmistakable landmark. Mt Baker was really active
underfoot.

After a junction with the Easton route, the route heads over the false summit, across the
"football field", and onto the true summit Grants Peak. The peak is actually a small pile
of warm gravel.

We made summit in six hours and rested on top for a half hour. After gulping down more
nasty iodine-laced glacier water, we headed down.
We made it back to the col and stopped again to strip off layers when the huge cloud
disappeared. The summit was now bathed in sunlight. We stared at each other quietly as we
each pondered going back up now that it was clear. We did not have the time, and we had
left our headlamps at base camp to save weight. We headed down.

We strolled down the mountain until we came upon the last glacier field before base camp.
We covered the last 1/2 mile performing a semi-uncontrolled, tied in, snow-slingin'
glissade that was arrested just short of the rocks. There were no peel-offs or drop-ins and
nobody logged air time.

Check out the pics! http://www.fototime.com/inv/74A8DFB53D37ED6”

“That is a sweet trip, dude! I have a friend that just did Baker. He said it was an excellent climb. I'll have to get around to it one of these days.”

“Mt. Baker - cool!

Umm, where's Mt. Baker?
CA?
WA?
OR?

CO?”

“Is your link still good?

Let me put it into code for you:

Tundra's Photo HTML Thingie

The enlightened one”

“OOps. I didn't mean to post your thingie all over the net. . . but the link still isn't working. Anyone else having a problem accessing it?”

“No problem accessing.

Gojo: WA”

“I SWEAR TO GOD that I'm gonna reach the left coast on my next (westward) roadtrip!”

“Spock's url is for the disaster this past Sunday at Mt. Baker. I was there, but wasn't where the action was. There were so many visitors there admiring fantastic wide open views that are accessible to everyone from easy walking paths.

Everyone would have been shocked including myself to realize what was really going on behind the scenes. I found out on the news when I got home.

gojo, you have to make it to WA. You could spend weeks here looking around Mt. Baker, the Olympics, Mt. Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and many other places. August would be a good month unless you want to snowshoe.”

“January through December are great if you like rain, too!”