[TR] Glacier Peak - Gerdine-Cool Glaciers 8/21/2013

[Whatcomboy]

Trip: Glacier Peak - Gerdine-Cool Glaciers

 

Date: 8/21/2013

 

Trip Report:

North Fork Sauk river trail was busy with hikers as me and daughter Lucy filled 2 bottles of H2O at Mackinaw shelter for the hot steep trail up to White Pass. Blueberries were a treat. At the PCT fork we chatted with a thru hiker headed to Canada then turned right for about a mile and went up the heather for our first view of Glacier Peak. We dropped over the ridge down into the basin to the far end to set up base camp with good running water. Calm and warm with a full moon. It had been 8 years since I was here before and my foggy memory tried to remember the approach in the morning as we went high thru the boulder field and up to Glacier Gap where the whole route is easy to see. Got on the lower part of the glacier and roped up for an easy traverse and watched a few rocks coming down. Lucy wanted to try out her shiny new crampons which came in useful for the short section of hard snow and ice as you get onto the upper glacier. The Cool glacier was broken up with a lot of crevasses that we weaved in and out easily. At 9400 you head up a pumice ridge and a short easy gully to the summit. Had the whole mountain to ourselves. Signed the register and headed down at 3pm as clouds started to come in. Careful thru the upper section then raced as fast as we could to get back. Saw a couple guys at a bivy off to the right about 7400 and waved. Man, thats a long way down to camp which we made at 7pm. It rained hard off and on all night but stopped in the morning and went down a lovely valley to the climber trail and up over Red Pass back to the main trail. Met 2 groups coming in, one with 8 guys moving like a freight train. Headed to town for the usual, beer and burgers.

 

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Gear Notes:

ice ax, 30m skinny rope, crampons

 

Approach Notes:

Fill 2 bottles at Mackinaw shelter