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/

Mt. Shuksan, Sulphide Glacer, Summit and Skills climb with AAI

This last weekend I guided a trip up Mt. Shuksan.  I have said for a while now that photography and guiding go hand in hand, and this trip really reminded me that this is true.  I don't like being out in the rain, but guides in the Pacific Northwest spend a lot of their time putting on a happy face and pretending to have fun in the rain.  Its often cold, miserable, and not really that much fun.  So what does that have to do with photography?  Often times the most dramatic skys and the best views are not found in sunny warm weather, in my experience they are found just after really crappy weather, as the clouds start to break and sun peaks through.  Photography is all about lighting, and this last weekend made for some interesting photo opportunities.  I am fairly sure if I had not been working, I would have gone home due to the weather.  Guiding often forces me to stay in a place and suffer through weather that I would not if I was on a personal trip, which makes for great photos.  Below are some photos from the weekend.

The North Cascades at dusk.

Mt. Baker at sunrise.

The thing that made this three day trip really great was the fact that we did have one day of good weather.  So on the second day we made a break for the summit of Mt. Shuksan.  Its almost winter up there, and the conditions were more like a spring climb then a early fall climb.

Mt. Baker with a perfect cloud cap on top.

Interesting clouds over the summit pyramid of Mt. Shuksan.

Approaching the summit pyramid.

Ruth climbing into the belay.

Looking down the route at the group below.

This really feels like winter climbing.  Ruth midway up the route.

Half way up the route.

Looking down the summit ridge with Mt. Baker in the background.

Ruth on the summit ridge with the summit behind her.  She is sitting down because of high winds.

Mitchel and Matt making the last few steps to the top.

Summit shot.

Heading down from the summit pyramid.

Ruth back at camp after the summit.

We all woke up some time after midnight with high winds and lots of rain.  I packed the camera deep in my pack surrounded by two garbage bags for the very wet hike out.  Summer in the Cascades is over!

Mt. Baker Skills Climb for AAI

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of summiting Mt. Baker with a fun group of Canadians, one of which lives in Surry, BC and has been looking at this peak for many years.  He decided that for his birthday he wanted to climb the mountain.  So he did.  Below are some photos from the weekend.

Mt. Rainier Kautz Glacier Climb

I am way behind on posting photos from the trips I have done lately, so hopefully I will have a bunch of posts in the next week or so. I will start with my latest trip since it has the fewest photos to sort through.

A Mt. Rainier greeting agent. Much more friendly than the Rangers. Actually the rangers were great! Not like North Cascades National Park.

Here is a panorama from our camp. Mt. St. Helens in the distance.
Crossing the Nisqualy Glacier.

Justin, Kate, and Liz.

Another guide services camp below us.

Scott near the summit.

Scott at the summit.

Liz with about ten steps to go.

Fist Bump!

The rappel down the Kautz Ice Chute.

Kate back at camp.

Heading out in less than perfect weather.

A panorama of the entire Muir Snowfield.

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.