Mount Baker Washington

[annajack25]

Has anybody climbed Baker and if so, the Easton Glacier route? Would like some comments on what the climb was like. We are looking to do so in early July next year. Thanks

[spiderman]

It sounds like that route is the easiest one on the mountain. We are planning a trip there next summer (flexible schedule) and wouldn't mind another couple of people on the rope. Let us know if you had interest.

[LadyClimber]

I climbed Easton Glacier route a few years ago. It's very easy and quite straight forward. If you've never been on a glacier it would be a good first one. There were a few crevasses to get around but that's it.

[annajack25]

Okay Lady and Spidy. Thanks for reply and info. We have done Rainier and Adams (Rainier with RMI). I read about the glacier travel on Baker but there isn't too much info and the little I got was on Summit Post which really wasn't helpful so thanks Lady. Spidy, It sounds like a possibility with a meet-up there as we would likely feel good about traveling with a couple more. We will probably be looking at early July for us (we are coming from Massachusetts), as we were planning a backpack trip in the goat rocks as well. Annajack

[kaiman]

Okay Lady and Spidy. Thanks for reply and info. We have done Rainier and Adams (Rainier with RMI). I read about the glacier travel on Baker but there isn't too much info and the little I got was on Summit Post which really wasn't helpful so thanks Lady. Spidy, It sounds like a possibility with a meet-up there as we would likely feel good about traveling with a couple more. We will probably be looking at early July for us (we are coming from Massachusetts), as we were planning a backpack trip in the goat rocks as well. Annajack

Check out Jeff Smoot's book Best Climbs Cascade Volcanoes for an overview of that route and many others on Baker.

[lazy climber]

Depending on what our snow pack does ( not too sharp at the moment) the trailheads might not be open yet and you could have a short to several miles hiking up a snow covered road to get to the TH.

Goat Rocks seems to be a bit more "remote" so not as much early traffic so it could really be tough to get into early if we end up with snow, Baker ( the south side) gets more traffic but still the road can be covered in early July.

The joke is that summer does not start here till the fourth of July, so the weather can be poor.

Having said all that Baker is a great hill, the Easton is a straight forward climb, route finding should be fairly easy that time of year. Th elevation gain is close to rainier and it wil be less crowded although that is one of the more used routes.

The Coleman -Demming is a nice route as well, maybe a few more cracks, but still very good climb as a introduction to glacier travel. The roads may or may not be open then.

We did the North Ridge two years ago in mid July and hit snow 400 yards form the TH so you never know what you might get.

If you are travelling from MA I would do later in JUly maybe the middle not the first part of the month, the weather willbe better later.

Depending on when you show up and are climbing I might be able to cut loose from work for a couple days, Baker is always a fun climb.

[bergschrund baLLaR]

How much ice climbing experience did you have prior to attempting the North Ridge? The ice cliff looks to be the crux of that route imo.

[jwendling]

Here's a pretty good TR of Colman-Deming.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... er=1104283

I was hoping to get there in late July, but one of my daughters decided to get married in July.
She didn't understand that her wedding needed to be planned around my climbing.

[lazy climber]

About the ice wall.... I have ice climbed for long time, the wall is the crux although there can be some route finding issues getting up to it and then on up to the summit plateau. We had a new guy with us who had never done anything like that so we went up a shorther section of the wall, maybe 80 feet. It is glacial ice and was featured so easy climbing if you are comfortable on fairly steep stuff. The down side it was a bit soft that day, the screws went in well, maybe too well. When one of the other guys cleaned it a spout of water came out of a couple holes. As I remember once we got up the wall we were on a 60 degree slope for the next 400 feet or so then had to cross ( climb in and out of ) a fairly big crack.

I suppose the conditions of the wall will change from day to day and what you run into once you get up the wall will depend on where you climb it. As you look at the wall the left side is short, more like a shoulder to get over before you hit the middle slopes and those slopes look to be less steep.

As you are looking at the route from the Hogs Back/ Heliotrope trail you are looking directly at the North Face, the ridge route/ice wall is on the left. The far left has the "shoulder" that offers access up the wall if you do not have ice climbing experience. Maybe 100-150 yards to the right of that shoulder is a rock cleaver ( we went that way), you can climb up that and then have only 80 feet or so of "ice" climbing. On either side of that cleaver the wall is at least a full pitch (150-200 feet).

We were there in early july and conditions/weather were good but you can never count on that.

Hopefully that helps.

For the guys coming out to climb, like I said mid July has the potential for better weather. Another climb to look at would be the Sulfide Glacier route on Mt Shuksan. If you are on Baker you are next to Shuksan, the road in is the same for a few miles, you come to a split, left to Baker( Easton/ Railroad grade) or right to Shuksan. Shuksan is a great climb, some glacier travel and then a 800 foot rock climb to finish.

[kaiman]

Here's a pretty good TR of Colman-Deming.

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthr ... er=1104283

I was hoping to get there in late July, but one of my daughters decided to get married in July.
She didn't understand that her wedding needed to be planned around my climbing.

Nice report. It's ironic that they have leashes on their skis but not themselves. Don't take their lead and expect to climb Mount Baker in July without ropes and crevasse rescue gear. That mountain has plenty of big holes and swallows dozens of climbers each year. By the time July roles around the snow bridges will be weak and you run the risk of getting into serious trouble if you don't take the proper precautions - FYI.

[Aubrey]

I did a TR on Baker's Easton route in 2011, if you're interested ...
http://www.14ers.com/php14ers/tripreport.php?trip=10498

And here are some teaser shots for ya ...

Baker and the Twin Sisters from the Chuckanut Mountains (just south of Bellingham):


Baker and Bellingham (Easton Route is on the right ridge, behind the Black Buttes):


Baker's north side (viewed from Tomyhoi Peak climb):


Baker from North Twin Sister (Easton is on the right):


South side of Baker in Sept.:

[jwendling]

Wow. Great pics.
Check out all of the crevasses.