1 post tagged “mount baker”
Summited Mount Baker (10,781' - 3,286m - GPS Track) via a direct variation of the Squak Glacier route at 5 AM on Sunday. This was our graduation climb for the basic mountaineering class I'm taking this season, and like all culminating events there were a lot of challenges to overcome, and a great deal of satisfaction and reward.
Team A1 actually met up at the Skagit Motel Friday night, where we did a little final planning and divvying of shared resources. Everyone tried to go to bed by 9 or 10, but all I did was toss and turn for most of the night. I had been jet lagged all week, after returning from Taiwan and never getting back to a normal schedule. 4:45 came way too soon, and we were off. After a brief stop to meet one more team member and to register ourselves at the ranger station, it was a long drive up to the end of Forest Service Rd. 13. We were able to get to within a half mile of the end of the road before the snow made it impassable, but at least we were on snow the whole way. That would make being in the plastic boots much more comfortable.
As soon as we started off, I was feeling bad. It usually takes me half an hour to get into the zone, but it just didn't happen on this day. We were on trail for maybe a mile and half before we lost the trail and just headed up through the snowy woods, staying fairly close to a due north heading. That was one of the advantages of this route: we knew we could fall back on a due north (on the way up) or south (on the descent) heading and be pretty sure of where we were going. Once we broke out of the woods, we were about a quarter mile west where the trail pops out of the woods. As it turned out, this would work out in our favor. The route we chose from there stayed to the west of the usual Squak route. We chose this route mainly to avoid a number of crevasse fields that could be seen from Crag View. Our plan was initially to camp under the rock outcrop (which we had a great view of) at around 7600'. Reports we'd read recommended this campsite as sheltered and stable. This would require a traverse back to the east after we climbed above the crevasse fields.
Not too far past Crag View, we roped up and started navigating the glacier in earnest. The 11 of us split into 3 rope teams. With the sun now beating down (and up, reflected off the endless snow) on us, I was really starting to feel it. We had made frequent stops, but even so, I felt very weak and tired. Every time we stopped, all I wanted to do was lie down and fall asleep for a while. I didn't, of course, but the thought started entering my mind that I wouldn't be able to make the summit push the next morning. I decided that my goal was just simply to make high camp. I would reassess the situation there. I usually make it a point to be on the end of the rope (either in the lead or anchoring the back) but this time, I chose the spot behind the lead on a four person rope. And the lead on my rope was K, who I knew I could count on to maintain a good pace. We were also the last rope team to head out, which meant that the steps would be nicely developed by the time I got there. At this point, I needed every bit of relief I could get.
The path up the glacier was straightforward, and since we chose to stay west of the usual route, we avoided most of the crevasses. There were only a few, which we skirted with relative ease. A couple of times during the climb, someone punched through, but only up to the knee or waist on a small crevasse. We managed to avoid all the big ones, and the climb went off without incident.
One of the side effects of our route was that we had to make it up past a large ice cliff before we could think about the traverse back over towards the campsite. By the time we made it past the cliff, though, we were above 8000'. With the weather as beautiful as it was, with very little wind, and much of the same forecasted until at least noon the next day, we decided to just find a relatively flat spot behind a small hill (so there was some degree of shelter) and set up camp there. The lead teams had already scoped it out and made an initial assessment of any crevasse danger around us by the time we got up. I was dead tired - at this point, I did literally lie down for a bit, using my pack as cushioning, before I even thought about setting up the tent. J was also having troubles of her own, and it took us a while to dig out the site and get the tent up. We both mentioned to each other that we might not make the summit, and the thought of just getting some sleep in the tent while the others made the summit push didn't seem so bad.
At this point, I pulled out the "summit treat" for the trip: medium rare ribeye with A1 steak sauce, in honor of our team name. Cold steak may not sound very appealing at sea level, but at 8000' on the side of a mountain, it's about as gourmet as it gets. mmmmmmmmm
I'd pulled out the steak at camp for two reasons: at that point, I didn't think I'd make it to the summit, and I also didn't think the steak should go too much longer without consistent refrigeration (I'd acquired at dinner Friday, and it had been refrigerated at the motel, but it had been a really hot day on the climb up to camp). Dinner was also a bit of an experiment for me as I made and ate my first "backpacker's" freeze-dried meal. Saved a lot of weight, and was pretty easy prep. I'll definitely be doing the freeze-dried action again in the future. There was so much food I actually couldn't finish it all, and ended up having to pack the remnants down the mountain the next day. Hah.
After dinner, I retired to the tent and conked out instantly. I hadn't even gotten into my sleeping bag, but that was alright, because the sun made it quite warm. I woke up several hours later only because the sun was retreating and I found myself shivering before I finally crawled into the sleeping bag. Even in that short amount of rest, I'd regained some confidence. I don't know what it was, but Saturday was exceedingly hard. It could have been anything: residual tiredness from jet lag, dehydration, hypoglycemia from not eating enough, tiredness from not getting enough sleep the night before, mild heat exhaustion, even mild altitude sickness. Or some combination thereof. In any case, it started getting better after that nice dinner and some rest. I decided that at midnight, I would walk down to the latrine we'd dug out, use the facilities, and then come back to the tent. If I became at all winded from the effort, I wasn't going to make the summit push.
Midnight came, and I returned from the latrine feeling ready to go. It was a relief. Still, I wanted to ensure I wasn't a liability on the team, so I stripped my summit pack down to the absolute bare minimum: fleece, shell, extra base layer, a few bars for food, 2L of water, glacier glasses, map, compass, GPS, extra batteries, a picket, and crampons. One of the nice things about being on a big team is that every once in a while, you can count on others to carry the load. Normally, I would have volunteered to carry a shovel or sleeping bag, but this time I just stayed quiet and let the picket be my "shared resource" carry. Another awesome thing about our team is that it's so disciplined. I'm used to being in groups where you say "get up at midnight and be ready to go at 1 AM" and maybe by 12:15 people have gotten up, and then they dally and by 1:15 or 1:30 you set off. Not this team. We were on the ropes ready to go by quarter 'til 1. It's been a great season with this team, and Sunday was the culmination of the whole season's learning and experience. We moved up that mountain with determination and confidence.
With the moon nearly full, and the skies clear, we could see the lights of Seattle, Everett, Bellingham, and even Vancouver, Canada, out there. The slopes were well lit even without headlamps (though of course we had ours on to navigate the crevasses). The night made things seem very peaceful and quiet. I commented during a brief stop to K that this was my favorite part of climbing. The glacier was still pretty well intact, and we made only a handful of snow bridge crossings over crevasses. We had wanded much of the way up to camp, and continued to do so all the way up to the summit. We had just enough to wand the entire route. Although we expected to be well off the mountain before weather came in, it never hurts to know your way back.
Since we were already so far west of the nominal route, we just continued up the slope without wasting effort on a traverse back toward the east. As it turned out, this route was more direct, since the nominal route calls for a westerly tack to join the Roman Wall at about 9500'. We were able to shoot straight up the glacier, maintaining a nearly due north route to meet the Roman Wall. I imagine that later in the season this becomes impossible due to crevasses, but we were fortunate enough to have a fairly straightforward climb up the glacier. Straightforward and fast. We made the summit at 5 AM, just before the sun arrived over the horizon. What a treat that was, to watch the sunrise from the summit of a great mountain.
It was very, very windy and cold at the summit, but having my fleece and shell on was just sufficient to combat the conditions. We nearly had the place to ourselves, too. To my surprise, there were two tents set up just below the summit, on the sheltered side, but still pretty windy and cold. I thought to myself: those guys are hardcore. And a little crazy.
Being so windy and cold, we didn't spend too much time up there, and began the descent right away. We ran into a number of teams coming up on the way back, including a couple of teams from the class. We plunged stepped it back to camp, making it back there around 7:30. We had planned to take nearly that long just to reach the summit, so we gave ourselves some time to just unwind and relax back at camp. I crawled back into the tent and nearly fell asleep before someone shouted that clouds seemed to be moving in. That kicked us back into gear and by 8:45 we were back on the trail.
The descent was relatively uneventful, just lots of plunge stepping, picking up wands, and trying to stay hydrated and cool while the sun beat down on us - punctuated by a couple of short but fun glissades. We hit the trees, and then we used the GPS and dead reckoning (due south, remember?) to ensure we found the cars, which we did, at just after noon. The only real hiccup of the trip was that we'd put down the wrong date (off by a day) when we registered (hey it was 5 AM!), so the rangers had called one of our emergency contacts since we hadn't reported in the day before. Fortunately, she explained that we weren't actually due back until Sunday. Oops.
A great culminating climb for the class. It's been a really fun team to be on, and everyone's dedication has made it a very smooth operation. Like I said before, it really helps when you have team members who are disciplined, and when everyone is so willing to pitch in on shared responsibilities. The rest of the season is a little up in the air right now, but I'd climb with anybody from our team again any day. We've talked about another attempt on Mt. Rainier, perhaps trying Glacier Peak at some point, and there's even been some talk about heading down to California for Mt. Shasta. We shall see how it pans out. Without an organized activity every weekend, the challenge for me now will be to stay in shape until the next climb. Until then...
