Mount Baker Easton Glacier Summit Climb with Students from the Bush School

This week I did a trip to Mt. Baker's Easton Glacier with a group of students from the Bush School in Seattle.  The trip started with a questionable weather report, which is never a good thing when you are hoping to summit Mt. Baker.  The first issue is that the road to the trail head is still covered with snow for over three miles.  This made for a long hike in to our first camp.

After a long day of walking we got to a camp at the base of the Rail Road Grade (a glacial moraine that runs along the west side of the Easton Glacier).  We set up camp cooked dinner and went to bed.  Unfortunately we awoke the next day to rain.  We decided not to move to a higher camp so we could stay dry.  After breakfast I went back to bed.  The students entertained themselves with cards.

Looking down the valley to Baker Lake.

Even the birds were wet.

Ricardo

 I was surprised to find the rain had turned to snow when I woke from my 4 hour midday nap. 

Snow on the cook tent.

Erica

Is the sun trying to break through?

 The next morning looked like the weather might get better so we decided to move to a camp that was high enough up the mountain to summit from.  The move to Sandy Camp was reasonably strait forward and only took a couple of hours.

Jordan

Maggie

 As the weather slowly improved we did some glacier skills practice in hopes that we would be able to climb to the summit the next morning.

Checking out a small crevasse.

Rope team travel practice.

 Morning always comes too early for me.  We had a 1am wake up.

Camp at 1am with the Twin Sisters Range in the background.

Camp at 1am with Mt. Baker's summit in background.

Sunrise

Isabel.

Starting up the Roman Wall.

Mt. Bakers summit.

On the summit.

The second rope team nears the summit.

Th last few steps to the summit.

The summit.

A slight detour heading down to view some seracs.

A panorama of the summit crater.  This was seven photos stitched together.

Once  back at camp we ate some lunch and packed up camp.  From there we began the long hike out.  The really long hike out.  Thanks to the crew from the Bush School in Seattle.  This was one of the more fun groups of people I have been out in the mountains with.   All in all a very rewarding experience for all, including me!

The complete set of photos can be found at http://alasdairturner.smugmug.com/

AAI Alpine Leadership Part 3 course.

Mt. Baker climb. AAI Alpinism 1 Course

Just got back from teaching a 6 day course on Mt. Baker. Usually this time of year these trips are a bit harsh due to the typical Cascades spring weather. No rain the whole time we were on the mountain. Perfect.

Usually on these courses we find a nice open crevasse to practice crevasse rescue in. There is no alternative to dropping everyone in a real crevasse and having them practice with real weight. Unfortunately the glaciers were a bit buried. I found this crevasse by falling in it. Here is one of the students falling in.

On the way across the glacier to find a crevasse.

A closer shot of the fall.

Cary
Stephan

Chris

Brigitte

Andy heading to high camp.
Brigitte and Shivesh on their way to high camp.

Tents at high camp.

AAI guide Erin Smart just after sunrise with the shadow of Mt. Baker in the background.

The first rope team on the summit.

Summit shot.

The whole group on top.
Tristan.

Heading back down.

As we were heading down a group of climbers were heading up Colfax Peak.

This was my first Mt. Baker trip of the summer and it might be hard to top. Perfect weather, a great group and an overall fun time. I have a ton more photos from this trip and will post others as I go through them. It might be after I get back from Bolivia.

Photos from a trip to Mt. Baker's Easton Glacier.

I just got back from a trip to Mt. Bakers Easton Glacier. This trip was a 3 day Mt. Baker Summit climb. The weather was a little challenging on this trip, and the summit conditions were some of the worst I have ever had to deal with. These trips start with an early morning meeting and gear check and then a drive to the trail head at Mt. Baker. We then hike in and build a camp just above treeline. Day 2 is usually a skills day covering snow walking, ice walking, ice axe use , and roped glacier travel. Day 3 is summit day and the long hike out.

Fog covering the trees on the approach hike. I shot no more photos worth posting the first day due to crappy weather and zero visiblility.

Fog in Valley below on the morning of day 2.

Jeff and Jeff enjoying the morning.

Fog in the valley.

Dwayne and Alex.

The Twin Sisters range.

Cindy heading up for skills day.

A guy walking on the ridge next to camp.

A second shot because I cant figure out which one I like the most.

Tim and Cindy.

The first hint of light in the morning. This is the first time I have tried using the D300 at 3200 ISO. I like the results.

A little later on the summit trip. The weather is still holding out.

Clouds moving up the mountain. Us too.

Moving around crevasses.

The well beaten trail up the mountain.

Our Summit shot. Fogged lens. Between turning around at the summit crater due to heavy rain and temps in the 30s I put the camera away. It was just too wet to be shooting photos. The camera still got soaked, but there were not ill effects. The other rope team of five very hearty soles chose to continue to the top with Chris. The slightly smarter group agreed to go down with me. I owe Chirs a beer for the seriously rough summit duty.

Today I am still chasing off a case of the flu brought on by a few too many days of work in a row. As always, its still better than sitting at a desk. Even on the worst days.