[TR] Mt. Baker - Coleman-Deming 7/2/2008

[Lukic]

Trip: Mt. Baker - Coleman-Deming

 

Date: 7/2/2008

 

Trip Report:

Went up the Coleman-Deming two days ago with a some guys from cc.com. The conditions and weather were perfect and the approach trail wasn't as bad as some made out to be. The road is clear to the trailhead and requires no walking/4wd. The bridge at the beginning of the trail is washed out, but as someone already posted, it is less than a 5 minute detour to the log downstream that people are using to cross. Provided you stay with the trail, which can be difficult at times, you can easily find ways to cross some of the streams that still have melting snowbridges accross them. The upper portion of the trail is fairly destroyed but someone took the time to mark it with surveyors tape.

 

Once on the Coleman Glacier the route should be fairly obvious. There is an older boot track that passes a major crevasse system to the climber's right, but that route is no longer passable. We were the last team to cross a very small, melted out and sketchy snow bridge at 8000' by taking the time to set up anchors and belay one another. We heard that the team behind us turned around after the bridge collapsed on them. Fortunately, there is an easy route around. By turning to the climber's left at 7200', one can easily avoid the crevasses at 8000'. We were fortunate enough to find out about this from another party on our descent. Between 8500' and 9000' there is a large snowbridge to be crossed and with the warm weather and high freezing levels it is only a matter of time before the sketch factor in that area increases dramatically. The rest of the route is straight forward and "easy." It was a fun trip, with ideal weather and good company.

 

If someone could enlighten me in adding photos to a trip report, I could post a photo showing the old and new route. Thanks.

 

 

Gear Notes:

Standard glacier travel

 

Approach Notes:

Trail is broken and washed out in places but easily passable.

Edited July 6, 2008 by Lukic

[regulus]

Thanks for posting this report Lukic! What a fabulous climb. Here is a section that explains the tags required to post an image.

 

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/faq#image

 

Just to test it out for myself, here you are with the summit register.

 

Edited July 5, 2008 by regulus

[rob]

right on, lukic Good weather for it

[Lukic]

Thanks you both. It sounds like you also had quite the fun time in the mountains yourself Rob. Congrats to you too.

[Lisa_D]

I was just there Sat. Conditions are still excellent and the trail is easy if you follow the tape. The leftward route he mentions was really straightforward and easy. All snow bridges were huge and solid. Go get it while it's good!