[TR] Mt Baker - Easton Glacier 5/6/2007

[Alex]

Trip: Mt Baker - Easton Glacier

 

Date: 5/6/2007

 

Trip Report:

glm and I settled on heading up the S side of Baker for a one-day ski tour, Sunday. On Fri the forecast for Sat and Sun had been "partly cloudy" and indeed Sat lived up to the that. Sun started out mostly cloudy as we headed up I-5.

 

Drove up the access road eventually ran into a bunch of snow and parked snomobile trailers and sleds. Figured out where to park the car, well before the Schreiber's Medow trailhead proper. There is a seasonal closure for snowmobiles that make one have to hike/ski the last several miles of fairly flat road to the TH. At the early hour we arrived, there were no sleds buzzing around. We headed up the road and made nice time, got to the TH, and slowly headed up.

 

Initially the cloud deck was above the summit, as while coming in we caught a glimpse of Colfax et al. but by the time we were heading up the initial moraines, the cloud deck had decended down to around 6500, where it would remain for the whole morning. About this time, some sledheds came on by, but they just went about their business up higher, and it was still pretty quiet.

 

Eventually we climbed into the cloud deck, hoping it would lift with the day or that we could see an exit out up higher and get above the layer, but we basically ended up taking a break and sitting in the clouds and whiteout for half an hour. Big fat raindrops and drizzle started signalling a turn-around, and lots of sloppy oatmeal turns interspersed with zooming along on sled tracks later, it was raining full and proper back at the trailhead. The road is half downhill gliding, and half full-out double-poling/skating, but one gets back to the car fast enough.

 

We stopped and talked to some heads loading up a trailer, then got out of our boots and loaded up our selves. On my windshield was a hand-written note that pointed out politely that I had parked in the wrong spot, and then, quite inexplicably

 

"By the way, if you had even THOUGHT about touching my sled, you would not have liked the consequences!!"

 

Gear Notes:

Tunes. Sunblock. Should have brought my "Lowell Skoog Signature half skins" for the road.

 

Approach Notes:

Still alot of flat snow-covered road.

[PeterC]

Thanks for the TR. Can you be a bit more specific about how much road-hiking was required? An hour? 3 hours? Thanks.

[Weekend_Climberz]

Kinda crazy note there?? Sounds like about the best time you can have while it's raining.

[plexus]

Wow Alex,

 

Sounds like deja vu on my two attempts to ski the Easton. Although the first time I got a hitch up the road by one of the sled heads. The second time after skiing up to pass the trailhead, I couldn't even see the mountain.

 

I'd be out there skiing in the nearly 2 feet of new wet stuff we got over the weekend but the avy conditions are less than ideal right now. Hopefully tomorrow before work I can get some turns in.

[Alex]

Road probably took about an hour, I guess, to the TH proper.

[glm]

I think the road closure was 1.5-2 miles before the Schreiber Meadows parking lot. It was about an hour, maybe a few minutes more, from the TH back to the car as I recall. We made good time mostly but stopped to gingerly walk with over a couple short gravel patches (so as not to damage our skis or have to take them off). It always seems longer on the way back.

 

Maybe, if we had forgotten sunblock, nature would have played the cruel joke of baking us with sun... I'd post photos but I didn't bother taking any.