JasonG

Trip: Mount Baker - Coleman-Deming Date: 5/30/2016 Trip Report: Memorial Day weekend is never one that you can reliably count on for good weather around here, and this year was no exception. However, Monday got better and better looking as the weekend unfolded and some hasty plans were hatched to help Scott with his annual tick of Mount Baker. The telemetry and forecast suggested we would find some settled powder(!), and so with little sleep we left the Skag in the trusty Civic, pointed North. First we needed to get Spiceman some breakfast so we stopped at Aarco in Sedro at 0415. The scene was not exactly normal (what did we expect?)..... and we left quickly, empty-handed. At the trailhead we left right behind team Rando at about 0600, clomping up the hill in our ski boots while they dashed onwards in much lighter footwear. Though you might have been able to skin up a bit lower, we didn't end up taking the skis off our backs until the top of the Hogsback. From there we kept the uphill plod going, skinning to the col with the help of ski crampons (necessary). The bootpack this year goes much further left (east) than normal, though the normal path looks like it might go. We weren't in the mood to routefind though so we followed the masses (there were about 40 on the hill that day). Above the col we carried the skis for a bit up the pumice ridge, but were eventually able to put them back on and skin all the way to the summit, which we had to ourselves (surprisingly). Some meat, cheese, chocolate, and pictures and it was time to transition before the sun did a number on the snow. The Roman wall was firm wind affected snow, pumice ridge softening crust, settled powder below the col, and varying degrees of butter and corn below that all the way to the Hogsback. Basically good to excellent the whole way and perhaps the best conditions I've skied Baker in. But the warm weather at the end of this week will change all that......so long spring. Gear Notes: skis! and ski crampons. The boot pack was knee deep, and looked slogriffic. Approach Notes: Nothing out of the ordinary

Near Sunset Slabs.

Awesome! Can't wait to take my boys on some of the classic alpine routes when they get older. That is a good one.

PM Oly and he will get the TR up. Unfortunately they haven't come up with a solution to this issue with the site yet.

Found a couple weeks ago on the approach to the Boulder Glacier Route on Mt. Baker. Describe it and I can get it back to you.

Based on the temps and radar, I'd say there is a lot of new snow up there today.

You might want to look around the north side of Mt. Hardy and the South side of Graybeard.

I must be technically challenged. I didn't hear the props at the 50 min mark, but I have no doubt they've taken notice of Marc. How could you not? It's been very cool to watch the rise of the young Jedi.

Indeed. Quite the story, I'm impressed. That stinks about T.E., they threw a good deal of cold water on the beginning of a grand adventure. The thing I don't get is that El Capitan is an international destination, and May one of the peak months. Free climbing El Cap is also becoming a thing for more than the uber-elite (although certainly something I'll never do!). T.E. thinks they can single-handedly hold back the ocean?

I find that so strange, that android and iphones are so much better at panos than most cameras. Why can't they add better functionality in camera??

It's true, modern iphones take great photos.

This is a known bug with the site that Oly and Jon are working on to remedy. It's not you. PM Oly and he will get the TR up. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1148286/Problems_posting_TRs#Post1148286 Please don't give up!!

That picture is pretty awesome. Nothing like a J-tree midget toss to get the blood flowing.

Shoot RAW and get good at Lightroom post-processing. You'll be amazed at what most cameras can do. That said, the S120 is a great little camera. My go-to for more technical routes or carry-overs. If you want to spare no expense, the other one to check out is the Sony RX-100 IV.

All climbing deaths are bad, but to me these are the worst- experienced climber dies after falling unroped from 3rd/4th class terrain. Cameron Tague, Dallas Kloke, T.J. Langley etc., etc. How many of us could that have been?

Next time, bring one of these (they fold down small): http://www.coleman.com/camp-oven/2000016462.html Also, you need to go in and delete the "medium" from the image tags. Should be huge after you do that. Fantastic looking trip, and some really great images. Thanks!

OK, I guess there are a few crevasses late season: http://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=959031 If the weather cooperates, you'll be just fine.

Are there any crevasses on this glacier any more? I've never roped up, no matter the season. I think bare ice is usually the late season hazard, not crevasses.

I think anytime you are on glaciers for a long time, esp. in the afternoons, low top shoes are going to mean wet feet, no matter the construction. Gore tex doesn't really matter when the snow comes over the tops. Gaiters don't seem to work that well,in my experience, but I'm not up on every single style that's out there. On the plus side, low tops seem to dry pretty fast once you get off the snow. The Arc'teryx shoes look interesting with the liner so maybe they're different..... but I'm suspicious. Time will tell.

Actually more July/August than May. But May weather returned today so things may shape up again on the high north facing terrain. Let us know what you find!

I have the Boulder X low top and generally like it. Good value, and very durable. Also eems to do pretty well climbing. I used them for approaches in the Bugs last summer, including hiking over to the Howsers and East Creek from the Kain Hut. I've also used them for getting to the full north ridge of Stuart. In general though, I've found that the Cascades really aren't the place for approach shoes. Too rugged, and too muddy in my opinion. A lightweight real mountaineering boot that climbs well is much better. Like the Trango S or Trango Alp Evo GTX (my current boot). Boots are a pain to carry over, but most routes in the Cascades aren't that long or hard (while the approaches often are). For those really long or hard routes (or short WA pass approaches), I use my Boulder X's. For all the others, I wear real boots.

Thanks, it is on the list!

This is a good time of year to get Constance, the tedious scree is mostly snow covered and the campsites should be snow free. I would recommend the West Arete if you want a bit more spice.

I love the cloud sea, weather on Sunday was a lot better than I expected!

That's a really good idea, you're right that not many people do that link-up. About how long for the RT?