Mt. Baker Easton Glacier Route

[Carrie]

I am going to be climbing the Mt. Baker Easton Glacier route in 2 weeks (labor day weekend). Do most people camp at Morovitz Meadow? How long is the climb from the meadow to the summit? It sounds like we'll need to rope up the entire way from the Meadow area. What can I expect on this route this time of year?

 

Thanks!

Carrie

[king_buzzo]

I was up there on July 16-17 and conditions were excellent. You can camp at the top of the Railroad Grade at around 6000 ft (a few hundred feet above M. medows). Be sure to get a early start from high camp (1 or 2 am) as the snow will soften rapidly as the sun rises.

[king_buzzo]

continued:

You will need to rope up from the upper reaches of the RR grade (7000 ft) to the summit, and back. The easton route was straightforward with no major crevasse issues.

 

mike b for king buzzo

[king_buzzo]

check out http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/conditions/mt_baker_climbing_notes.shtml

 

mike b for king buzzo

[SublimeSalamander]

I was up there the same week end as king buzzo. I agree stay on the railroad grade as long as you can and look for camping on the snow in the general area of 6000ft. And as a side note if you happen to find a Nikon Coolpix Camera in a black nylon case somewhere below the Roman wall and above 7000ft there's a case of beer in it for ya as a reward.

[catbirdseat]

When I did that route, we camped at 6,400 to the left of a rocky moraine. To the left of that moraine was snowfield. To the right crevassed glacier began with some big crevassses opposite camp. As we were roping up at 2 am we saw some headlamps coming up on the right. I went over and saw that they were not roped up yet. They were unaware they were on glacier. I pointed out the huge crevasse and that's when they figured it would be a good time to rope up.

[Carrie]

Hey thanks for the advice! I am sorry to hear you lost your camera, if I see it I will bring home and post a message in this category.

[ogre]

Carrie,

My partner and I did the Easton route this past weekened. We were one of two- 2-party teems that did the route on Sunday. Here is my .02.

1. Camp as high up the moraine as you can.

2. You'll be starting first thing on ice so yes........ rope up first thing.

3. If you are not familiar with that route this time of year hopefully you can tag up with someone who is because......... You will definately have to find your own route. Any tracks or paths from the day before will be gone.

4. Please be extra cautious as I managed to punch through 4 times. Out of the 4 times , 3 were very concealed.

(One note to remember is all 4 times were on the way down from the summit, which were rather late for this time of year. We descended from the summit around 12:30 p.m. Snow was soft and bridges were iffy. Summit temp was 65 degrees at around 11:30.

4.From the end of the moraine you want to head towards Sherman Peak ( The rock butte on the right), then skirt it and the crater and climb upward to the right side the of "Roman Wall".

5. Again use caution as existing crevasses may cause extra wandering around, new crevasses will be opening up, and some may still be hidden.... as I found out. Just be cautious ..and just in case........... prepared. Happy climbing!

The Ogre

[ogre]

The website King Buzzo has on his reply is a good referral as it is true about the hidden crevasses and weak bridges.

Just to add. If you're not comfy with 2-man rescue, find at least a third party.......... just in case. Otherwise,climb on!

P.S. Take a camera!

[cluck]

Ogre... glad you got up after you previous attempt that went wrong.