ogre

Carrie, My partner and I did the Easton route this past weekened. We were one of two- 2-party teems that did the route on Sunday. Here is my .02. 1. Camp as high up the moraine as you can. 2. You'll be starting first thing on ice so yes........ rope up first thing. 3. If you are not familiar with that route this time of year hopefully you can tag up with someone who is because......... You will definately have to find your own route. Any tracks or paths from the day before will be gone. 4. Please be extra cautious as I managed to punch through 4 times. Out of the 4 times , 3 were very concealed. (One note to remember is all 4 times were on the way down from the summit, which were rather late for this time of year. We descended from the summit around 12:30 p.m. Snow was soft and bridges were iffy. Summit temp was 65 degrees at around 11:30. 4.From the end of the moraine you want to head towards Sherman Peak ( The rock butte on the right), then skirt it and the crater and climb upward to the right side the of "Roman Wall". 5. Again use caution as existing crevasses may cause extra wandering around, new crevasses will be opening up, and some may still be hidden.... as I found out. Just be cautious ..and just in case........... prepared. Happy climbing! The Ogre

My partner and I climbed Baker on Sunday and on our way down noticed that it appeared that they seemed to have the fire basically completely contained. There was one 'copter that was dumping water around the base of the peak, probably to prevent hot ash from starting a new fire. On our hike up on Saturday,though,from the parking lot we were breathin'smoke up to around the meadows area. Saturday night were camped above the high camp (Easton Glacier)and you could see the 'flareups' or trees burning which made for an interesting spectacle. From what we saw Sunday on our way back down to the parking lot,though, the fire was pretty much out. P.S. We need some more instant gremms to choose from.

Thanks for the feedback peoples! We're the 'go for it'type of people so off we go.If any of you would run into a couple o' knuckleheads, that would be us. Yeeeeehaaaaa! Thanks again! The Ogre

Thanks for the retort guys. We will be making the round again this weekend. From what I understand veer left on the glacier to avoid the crevasses? 2- Is the trail easy to follow? 3- We are a 2- man party(I understand the danger of glacier travel with a 2-party team) How much risk involved on this route? Thanks! Mark

We had done some other Cascade Mt. climbs but not the Mt. Baker climb.(via Easton Glacier route). We departed from the parking lot at around 6:30 p.m. and arrived at the creek crossing some 20 minutes later. The rains the day before had raised the creek level somewhat and the two other climbers with us felt a bit intimidated to cross there. We figured we could head upstream abit and cross and meet up with the trail agin. So we headed up. At around 8:00 p.m. we arrived at a footbridge that crossed to our left. From there the section of trail heading East seemed to be the appropriate trail as it headed up (or North) to the the glacier we needed to approach. So on we went. As the trail climbed we figured we were headed in the right direction and hurried our pace a little hoping we could make the 'high camp' by dark. The view of the mountain was magnificent which further inspired us to make the camp by dark. After another hour of traveling we began to wonder if we were on the right trail as this one seemed to descend and head away from the mountain. We ran out of daylight and decided to make camp via headlamp. Our spirits declined as we had instinct we were not going the right direction. We ate,talked briefly,then turned in, eagerly awiting the dawn to see just where the hell we were headed. After a decent nights rest (as mt.climbing goes) we arose and determined we were not going the right direction. Figuring we hadn't the time to find the trail that would eventually lead us to the high camp we made way back to the parking lot. Of course upon our way we arrived back at that footbridge. Instead of traveling down the creek we decided to cross the bridge and find out just where this path went. Prior to crossing we could see other climbers traversing along the ridgetop above. We figured "THAT" was the trail we needed to be on. Sure enough,after crossing and walking another 15-20 minutes we came across the intersection of the the trail leading up to R.R. Grade and the Butte trail. We let out a murmer or two and continued our way to ............ the parking lot. We had two others behind us and figured it 'unprudent' to attempt an ascent. The trail led us back down to the 'creek crossing',where we crossed(the other two not being intimidated this time as the water level had dropped) and made our way back to the parking lot. Oh...... safe at last.sh%*! In summary, I would like to say the following: 1. Botched climb trip 2. Next time we will cross the creek where we're damned well supposed to no matter who the he%! is with us. 3. Do not assume that "This path will meet up with that path". 4. Pay more attention to trailmaps instead of thinking "We'll just follow somebody up who seems like they know where the're going". 5. Sometimes it's ok to "nudge" someone who may seem a little apprehensive. All in all you still can't beat the isolation and beauty of the mountains. We intend on making another attempt in a few weeks. So how long(on average), does the climb take? A. From trailhead to high camp. B. From high camp to summit. (via Easton Glacier) And what is the best route? Thanks for the great site,info,advice, and support! Peace, Happy climbing! The Ogre

Me and a buddy of mine are wanting to climb Baker this weekend via Easton Glacier. Have never been on this mt. and so looking for tips,advice,good time to start. Do we need harnesses to rope up to/with? How long does it take? (We do St. Helens in 3-31/2 hours,Adams in around 7). Decent routes? Gear,clothing, etc... Thanks for any info you might have

My buddy and I did Adams this past Sunday. We're not skiers but were able to glissade from the summit to Piker's to Lunch Counter to the last marker pole. There are some rocks protruding 40 ft. or so from the top of Pikers, after that it's pretty much clear 'sliding' down the hill with an occasional "pullout"....... for rocks of course.