[TR] Mt. Baker - Coleman Deming 5/21/2017

[Dhruv Garg]

Trip: Mt. Baker - Coleman Deming

 

Date: 5/21/2017

 

Trip Report:

We had been planning on doing Mt. Baker last weekend for a while. For some, it was their first Cascadian volcano and/or glaciar climb. PNW had gifted us with an absolute gem of a weather window and it seemed like the perfect way to kick off the climbing season. Since we weren't the only ones who had honed in on the weather window, the road to the TH was already packed with a ton of cars when we got there Saturday morning around 9AM. The road was still snow covered about 2 mi out which delayed our departure from the TH.

 

We had eyed the base of the Black Buttes as our campsite and made it there by mid afternoon. While making camp and getting ready to melt water, some ominous clouds rolled in which made us think that we might be facing a whiteout for our summit bid the next day. But they cleared up soon enough to clear skies and order was restored. After setting up and laying down the ropes, we went to sleep at 7PM (or at least tried to).

 

clouds lurking

 

The next morning, we left camp around 1AM. The route had a solid boottrack which eased our workload. After the saddle (9000'), it got a bit congested. Avoiding any epics, be they major or minor, we made it to the top a little after 7. The skies were clear throughtout our climb with not a hint of anything sketchy. On our way down the Roman Wall, some people were uncomfortable with the exposure and the snow conditions. We took it very slow to the saddle just to be extra careful. From the saddle, the descent to camp was pretty quick.

 

A lot of tiny creatures on the Roman Wall

 

You can see our entire route

 

trust me, behind us, it's very crowded

 

After napping and melting water, the group tore down the camp and left around 2. Some supreme glissades helped us get to the treeline (5000') in no time. The walk back to the cars from then on, like any other approach, was annoying and brutal. The ~2 mi from the TH to the car didn't help the situation either. However, a successful summit more than made up for it.

 

Key stats -

TH (3800') to Camp (7000') - 5.30 hrs

Camp to Summit - 6 hrs

Summit to Camp - 3.30 hrs

Camp to TH - 2.45 hrs

 

Since the road was snow-covered, it added 30-45 mins to our approach.

 

For the GPX, Mt. Baker (Coleman Deming) PeakBagger TR.

 

Gear Notes:

3x 60m rope (4 person rope-team), picket per person, shovel, snowshoes, crampons

 

Approach Notes:

The road is snow covered but it should clear up soon.

Edited May 26, 2017 by Dhruv Garg

[stever]

Did you get a good look at the North Ridge route? Or any zoom pictures?

[Kameron]

Must be in very good shape, some folks climbed and skied it last weekend (Instagram beta).

[Dhruv Garg]

Saw a couple of people on Saturday at the base of the ridge. So I'm pretty sure it was climbed (or at least tried) over the weekend.

[geosean]

Thanks for posting, always good to have conditions info!