[TR] Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier 4/6/2007

[samc]

Trip: Mt. Baker - Easton Glacier

 

Date: 4/6/2007

 

Trip Report:

Here is Mike's (Colt45) report of our ski of the Easton Glacier which can be found with more pics at http://uw.cascadeclimbers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3434&highlight=

 

My pics can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/samcrary/MtBakerEastonGlacierApril672007

 

 

"Sam and I noticed the excellent weather forecast for the weekend--so we headed for Mt Baker, where we climbed the Easton Glacier to the summit and skied down. We drove up Friday afternoon (note: the road is snowed in 4 miles before the trailhead). We skinned for a few hours and camped around 5,000 feet. Our campsite was way too comfortable, so neither of us heard the alarm go off. Accordingly we started at a leisurely hour, which was not a big deal as the remainder of the climb, and the ski down, went very quickly.

 

The snow was well frozen early in the day, making for easy travel (ski crampons were extremely useful). The snow also softened up enough to allow for good skiing on the way down. We started out the second morning at the begining of the glacier. The summit was in and out of the clouds all day.

 

By the way, this area is popular with snowmobiles...(only the north half of the mountain is closed to motorized vehicles) and by mid-morning they could be heard and seen all over the Easton.

 

At the top of the glacier, we reached a notch. This led to the summit crater. We then realized that accessing the summit from here would require climbing down into the crater, then ascending out the other side....

 

Sam at the crater.

 

Descending near the crater seemed like a bad idea, so we backtracked a bit and traversed around some cliffs. This took us to the Roman Wall. I left my skis in the snow and kicked steps up the steep, icy slope. However Sam managed to skin all the way to the summit, then ski all the way down! Impressive.

 

Mike booting up the Roman Wall

 

On the Roman Wall, we found a bird frozen in the snow around 10,500 feet. I don't think birds can fly that high, so it may have been carried by the wind. We then reached the top of the mountain, where we were greeted by whiteout conditions and blasting winds. So we started back down shortly after summiting.

 

Sam skied the Roman Wall on breakable but edgable crust, and we enjoyed great corn skiing on the Easton Glacier below about 9,000 ft. We skiied all the way to the car for an 8,000 vertical foot descent."

 

Mike in the sun on the descent.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Skis, skins, ski crampons are all that are needed. We lugged plenty of other junk (crampons, harness, small rope) for the 'training weight'.

 

Approach Notes:

About 4 miles of snow on FS Road 12. Currently snow line is right at the split with FS Road 13. Lots of snowmo traffic

Edited April 9, 2007 by samc

[kevbone]

Great pics....

[magellan]

Great day! They have seen ravens on the south col of Everest.

[ryland_moore]

Birds can fly higher. I've seen small birds on Denali at over 14k.