jhflying

When I passed your tents and no one was stirring, I thought, "hmm, maybe we should stay in our warm sleeping bags." But nooo, we made a push. Primarily to shake down the newbies (going to Rainier next weekend) in more challenging weather circumstances. It worked since a few less-hardy dropped from Rainier. What time did you guys go down? It was snowing hard when we booked outta there. But there must have been 40 climbers going up the trail. They must have had fun Sunday early AM. John

Trip: Mt Baker - Coleman - Deming 2nd Act Date: 6/15/2007 Trip Report: 2nd weekend, same crappy weather. Trail was melting out nicely. Even the climbers trail on the Hogsback was opening up. Camps at 6,000 were pretty much clear of snow. We continued up to high camp below black buttes again at 7,200'. Alpine start under clear calm skies, but the snow was much softer even in the middle of the night. I kicked steps through the crust most of the way to the saddle. From high camp, we stayed very high on the upper Coleman, right below black buttes, and going through the ice fall seemed easier than last week. The large crevasse below the saddle continues to open up, so we traversed further left to find a snow bridge. Weather came down when we were at the saddle, and since I had newbies, we turned around. By the time we made it back to camp, it was a full blown snow storm. At least the snow was better than the freezing rain from last week. It was snowing about an inch per hour, so it was really coming down. By 6,000', it had turned to snow pellets, and of course rain by 5,000'. And yes, this week I placed wands and removed them. Ah, experience.

Yep. I learned that lesson, and I won't make it again. But if I see some of you nice folks on a mountain and you ask - I'll leave my wands for ya. John

Crevasses were still covered except for the small ice fall on the upper Coleman. The large crevasse cutting across the upper Coleman from the black buttes required some navigating out to the middle of the upper coleman. The roman wall was in great early season shape. I'll be up there again this weekend with a group. We'll be under the black buttes again. John

I had wands, but erroneously assumed that the existing wands would be in place on the way down. Never again will I assume that. John

I agree that that was my mistake. However, the winds were howling and communication difficult. Next time, I'll place my own wands, and leave them for another party if needed. You could probably hear the fear in my writings, since it could have turned bad if I got our group lost over the North Ridge. Live and learn ... John

Here's some pics: about 4,000' on trail 6,500' approaching black buttes high camp

Trip: Mt Baker - Coleman - Deming Date: 6/8/2007 Trip Report: With sunny skies on Friday and a forecast storm for Sat AM, 7 of us headed up the Coleman-Deming Glacier route. The trail was snow-free for the first mile. No major problems crossing the streams in the morning. Camped at 7,200' under the Black Buttes. Alpine start at 3am under clear skies, but ominous lenticular cloud off the summit. Wind was howling at the saddle and we could see the storm clouds coming from the west. Storm hit while going up the Roman Wall, but we continued to the summit in a white out. Sadly, freezing level was high at 8-9,000, so it was blowing sleet. Ice covered everything, including goggles, so had to brunt the storm with no eye prot. Returned to tents, which were covered in ice, in howling winds, horizontal rain / sleet. Ah, climbing in the NW! Thanks to the team ahead of us who removed their .25 wands on their descent. Sure, I should / could have wanded it next to their wands, but who removes wands in a white out when another party is behind them. Bad form, in my book. John Gear Notes: pickets, wands, rain gear. Approach Notes: Heliotrope Ridge trailhead open and dry. 1st mile snow free.