olyclimber Posted April 19, 2004 Posted April 19, 2004 Climb: Mt. Baker-Coleman-Deming [April 17-18] Date of Climb: 4/17/2004 Trip Report: Me, my little bro, and a friend went up on the Coleman glacier for alpine hijinx this past weekend. We had some specific goals related to the trip, mainly to see if we could survive 2 days together without killing each other, but also to see if it is possible subsist solely off of horsecock and moose goo. The road is still closed at 6.6 miles up Road 39, so we drove up from Seattle and hiked up and bivvied at the trailhead late Friday night. The next day we hiked up to a little less than half way up the Coleman glacier, seeing only one other group, a gaggle of Canucks on their way out. They had spent the night right about where the hiking trail ends on Heliotrope ridge. We started directly up the Coleman, but visiblity was almost zero (clouds/fog), and due to our lack of familiarity with the route we decided to wait to see if it would lift. In the meantime, we built a snow castle. Finally, around 6pm, the clouds lifted. My friend had plowed snow for us the whole way up, so while he rested in our Snow Kastle, me and my little bro decided to go up and figure out the route. We got as far as just below the pass between the Coleman and the Deming (just under 9000 feet) when we had to turn around because the sun went down and we had no flashlights. We witnessed some nice icefall off the glacier hanging off of Colfax Peak as we went by. We made it back down to Kamp Snow Kastle on the Coleman, and I spent a chilly night in my REI sleeping bag, which I believe must be rated at 75 degrees. That night was crystal clear, and probably we should have gone up to the summit then because the next day it was clouded over again. Our steps were competely erased from the previous day, and after heading up hoping it would clear, we decided to bag it because we couldn't see 10 feet ahead, and none of us were familiar with the route. As we headed down, there was a brief window of clearing, and we wondered if we had made the right choice. However, after drinking beer and eating pizza in Bellingham, and sunning and swimming out at Larrabee, we knew we had. Gear Notes: 75 degree sleeping bag, HC, Moose Goo, crampons (didn't use). Could have used some skis or snowshoes. Approach Notes: Road 39 is still closed at 6.6 miles, though with chains you could probably make it further. Followed tracks up to Heliotrope ridge, and then plenty of postholing from there up... Quote
Stephen_Ramsey Posted April 19, 2004 Posted April 19, 2004 Excellent trip report. Thanks for posting. Get any digital pictures, in spite of the low visibility? That hanging glacier on Colfax Peak generates some of the most badass icefalls I've ever seen. Quote
olyclimber Posted April 19, 2004 Author Posted April 19, 2004 Excellent trip report. Thanks for posting. Get any digital pictures, in spite of the low visibility? That hanging glacier on Colfax Peak generates some of the most badass icefalls I've ever seen. I lugged a Nikon F4 up there, so I will have some pictures when I get the film developed. I'll have them developed as prints and digital. Will post them in a day or two. Quote
blue_weasel Posted April 21, 2004 Posted April 21, 2004 Yeah, but the brothers both forgot their mom's 67th birthday! (love Mom) Quote
olyclimber Posted April 21, 2004 Author Posted April 21, 2004 Yeah, but the brothers both forgot their mom's 67th birthday! (love Mom) Mom, it was Oscar's fault. He was supposed to remind me. Quote
Rodchester Posted April 21, 2004 Posted April 21, 2004 If the road is closed at 6.6 miles.....that leaves what, about 1.5 miles of snow covered road to the TH? How much snow is on that last section? Roughly, of course. Think it'll melt out soon? Sounds like you had a fun trip! Thanks... Quote
olyclimber Posted April 21, 2004 Author Posted April 21, 2004 If the road is closed at 6.6 miles.....that leaves what, about 1.5 miles of snow covered road to the TH? How much snow is on that last section? Roughly, of course. Think it'll melt out soon? Sounds like you had a fun trip! Thanks... Yea, the trailhead is at the 8 mile post. The snow on the road all the way to the trailhead isn't going to melt out *really* soon as it is at least a couple feet deep of compressed snow/ice in parts. It will probably be clear all the way up in a month unless they plow it before that. Quote
mvs Posted April 23, 2004 Posted April 23, 2004 it's not good when your mom has a handle on cc.com! Quote
olyclimber Posted April 23, 2004 Author Posted April 23, 2004 it's not good when your mom has a handle on cc.com! She used my little brother's ID to post. If she was a regular poster, she would probably end up getting banned like Trask. Quote
Rodchester Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 Anyone up there this past weekend? Looking for any additional/recent road access beta.... Thanks Quote
cracked Posted April 27, 2004 Posted April 27, 2004 I summitted from the East on Sunday, there were lots of people from the C-D, they said about one mile of road hiking to get to the TH. Or you could just PM Pandora. Quote
Rodchester Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 Just an update of road conditions: The road into the Heliotrip Ridge Trailhead still has a lot snow on it for about a mile, maybe a tad less. It is very compacted snow and will likley take a while for it to melt out. In classic fashion, some sections (such as corners) are deep copacted snow (2 ft. deep) some section (such as straight-a-ways) are bare and snow free. Sooooo, no good ski out. The trail itself is similar: some setions are snow covered and some are bare. We took snowshoes and while we could have used them in a few sections, they were not needed. Freeze levels never came down over the weekend, making it soup city up there. The snow was very heavy (almost slushie) and never hardened up or crusted. Rain on Saturday night added to the fun. Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 Hey Rodchester, were you at High Camp (7000')? We were the splitboarders. I strongly advise heading up behind the toilets and up the gullies for the approach instead of following the trail, that is, unless you lack floatation. It is an ideal skinning route and also rocks on the descent. Quote
Rodchester Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 AJ: We were a group of seven camped at the Buttes. Were you the guys diggin s now cave on Sunday a.m.? What elevation is that area? My watch said 7100 ft, which I thought was more or less correct. The guys that my buddy and I were with are new to mountaineering and this was thier first trip up a glaciated peak. After we came down, one of them said he had read in Smoot's book that we were at 9000 ft. I know it can't be that high. Anyone know the elevation for the Baker CD route high camp area below the Black Buttes? Quote
Cando Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 I believe it to be about 7K. 9K is the approximate elevation of the saddle separating the Coleman and Demming glaciers, just below the beginning of the Roman Wall. Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 Yeah I was digging a snow cave to satisfy my anxiousness to do the damn climb. We tried to wait out the weather but we finally bailed at 10 AM as the visibility went from bad to ridiculous and it started drizzling again. Hey maybe you are the guy with whom I had a short conversation? Quote
Rodchester Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 No...that was a good buddy of mine ehlping me with the newbies. Quote
Stephen_Ramsey Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 We were a group of seven camped at the Buttes. Were you the guys diggin s now cave on Sunday a.m.? RodChester, Were you the party we saw at the Hogsback on Sunday, and followed back down to the trailhead? If so, hello. We were the party of two who were camped on the Roosevelt at about 7300'. Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 We were a group of seven camped at the Buttes. Were you the guys diggin s now cave on Sunday a.m.? RodChester, Were you the party we saw at the Hogsback on Sunday, and followed back down to the trailhead? If so, hello. We were the party of two who were camped on the Roosevelt at about 7300'. Hey, I think we saw you guys out there on the Coleman Glacier. What were you going to climb? This is getting funny--cc.com Mt. Baker takeover. Quote
Stephen_Ramsey Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 My wife and I were hoping to climb the North Ridge. But Mount Baker said, "Not". Cheers, Steve Quote
Rodchester Posted May 3, 2004 Posted May 3, 2004 Steve R: Were you with a Asain woman, who I would assume is your wife? You were picking up your snowshoes at the hogs' back? Yep, that was us...shitty conditions huh? Quote
mountainguy01 Posted May 4, 2004 Posted May 4, 2004 "This is getting funny--cc.com Mt. Baker takeover." Interesting you mention that...I, as well as another non-cc.com'er, were up there Sunday for a nice jaunt up to Helio and back. Figured since my plans were cancelled for climbing it this last weekend, I might as well see what the conditions were like, and...I think the right decision was made. Did anyone summit on Sunday? Steve R Quote
ashw_justin Posted May 4, 2004 Posted May 4, 2004 We didn't see anybody on Sunday except for the other people at High Camp that bailed before us. We were the last to leave. Of course, we didn't see anything but High Camp on Sunday so who knows. Quote
Stephen_Ramsey Posted May 4, 2004 Posted May 4, 2004 Steve R: Were you with a Asain woman, who I would assume is your wife? You were picking up your snowshoes at the hogs' back? Yep, that was us...shitty conditions huh? Yes, that was me and my wife Elain. Hopefully the weather will be better next time. Quote
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