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[TR] Mt. Baker- Coleman-Deming [April 17-18] 4/17/2004


olyclimber

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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...

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Excellent trip report. Thanks for posting. thumbs_up.gif

 

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. fruit.gif

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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?

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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. wave.gif We were the party of two who were camped on the Roosevelt at about 7300'.

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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. wave.gif 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. rockband.gif

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"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

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