Cascades 2017: Mt Baker (10,781'), Mt Rainier (14,411'), and Mt Angeles (6,333')
Two weeks after I returned from Alaska, I met up with some friends who wanted to get into mountaineering on glaciated peaks. Pascal, Laura, Owen, and I met in Seattle on June 17th and spent 9 days traveling around the Cascades on a trip that was 1/3 hardcore, 1/3 pleasure camping, and 1/3 road trip.
Glacier Peak from the flight into Seattle
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Mount Baker: Coleman-Deming 6/18-6/19
Our first objective for the trip was the 10,781' Mount Baker. This huge Cascade Volcano sits on the Western edge of North Cascades National Park and overlooks the mouth of Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands. It is also one of the snowiest places on earth, averaging around 650 inches of snow per year. We planned to climb one of the standard routes, the Coleman-Deming, in order to acclimate and practice some glacier travel before our main objective: Mt Rainier.
6/17 - 6/18: Mt Baker: hike to high camp
Pascal, Owen, and I left Boston early in the morning on Saturday, June 17th and made it to Seattle without a problem. We met Laura in the terminal and picked up our rental car, a soccer-mommed Ford Expedition, and headed for the North Cascades. We met our friend Ali and her friend Lexa at the Glacier Public Service Center near the trailhead, and then went on to a campsite at Douglas Fir Campground within the National Forest. Gear was sorted, beers were drunk, and mosquitos were swatted before we called it a night. The next day we hit the Heliotrope Ridge Trail, which (normally) offers good views of the Coleman Icefall and Coleman Headwall, but unfortunately we were socked in with misty rain for most of the day.
Douglas Fir Campground
Photo: Laura Schiller
The gear sort
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Parking lot for Heliotrope Ridge. I love the faces in this one =)
Photo: Mike Hasse
A better parking lot selfie
Photo: Mike Hasse
The soggy Heliotrope Ridge Trail
Photo: Mike Hasse
The stream crossings didn't prove as much of a challenge as we feared.
Photo: Mike Hasse
We hit the snowline about 4000' and said goodbye to Ali and Lexa, who had just joined us for a day hike. The climber's trail climbs steeply up from Heliotrope Creek along an old moraine feature called the Hogsback. Lucky for us, there was enough snow that we could kick steps up the next 1000' and avoid climbing the steep, dirty trail in our mountain boots; a painful endeavor. Unlucky for us, we climbed into a low hanging cloud at 5000' which brought drizzle and low visibility. Our forecast said it was supposed to clear up by late morning, so we continued on. The forecast was somewhat inaccurate, as we didn't get a break in the rain for 5 or 6 more hours.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of the mountain through the fog.
Photo: Mike Hasse
First look at the Coleman Icefall
Photo: Mike Hasse
Prepping for snow travel at the top of the Hogsback (~5100')
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Roping up.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Slogging through the fog ~6500'
Photo: Mike Hasse
We continued up another 2000' or so, aiming for the commonly-used Heliotrope Ridge Camp which varies from 6800' to 7000' each year. At this point, we'd been slogging through the rain for 2 hours or so, and everything was soaked. Visibility was low, and we wandered around a bit on the flat expanse of glacier until we found the remains of someone's old campsite. We quickly got our tents up and crawled into our sleeping bags in an effort to keep warm and dry out. It finally stopped raining and slowly began clearing around 5:30pm.
Melting water and cooking dinner in the mist. I had a pyramid-style cook tent in the car that I decided to leave behind due to the forecast. Turns out, it would have been welcome.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Trying to air-dry our stuff during a break in the mist.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Discussing the route for summit day.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Practicing some crevasse rescue techniques using the tallest thing around...
Photo: Mike Hasse
Final view of the clearing valley before closing up for the night.
Photo: Mike Hasse
6/19/17: Mt Baker summit day
It was a chilly night which was helped not at all by our soaked clothing and sleeping bags. We woke up at 3:00am to mostly clear skies and decent winds, so we decided to go for it. We left camp about 1.5 hours later and enjoyed a very nice boot pack put in by a guided group that passed us about 3:30 as we were eating breakfast. We made great time, despite some crevasses between 8100' and 8500'. We caught the guided group around 9000' and elected to stay behind them and take advantage of their step kicking. The lead guide was definitely a pro. His steps were so consistent, they may as well have been put in by a machine.
Roping up pre-dawn.
Photo: Laura Schiller
About 8000' on the Coleman Glacier
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Sun peaking through the clouds near the Coleman Headwall.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Navigating the crevasse field and serac debris around 8500'.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Following the bootpack toward the saddle between Mt Baker and Colfax Peak.
Photo: Laura Schiller
We caught the guided group at 9000' at the saddle between Mt Baker and Colfax Peak. As I mentioned, they were putting in such a nice boot pack that we decided to go slower and hang out behind them to take advantage of it. The weather also worsened. The wind picked up and low clouds starting the blow through, resulting in patches of low visibility. We followed the guided group all the way to the summit at 10,781'.
At the saddle, ~ 9000'
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Climbing the summit ridge into a cloud
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Waiting for the guided group to climb a steep section.
Photo: Laura Schiller
The stoke is high...
Photo: Laura Schiller
On the summit ridge with Colfax Peak in the background.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
As visibility worsened, I lost an eye shield from my sunglasses. Owen the hero caught it as it slid down the Roman Wall.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Blowing clouds resulted in interesting climbing weather. Around 10,000'
Photo: Mike Hasse
Both groups tackling the final obstacle to the summit, the Roman Wall.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
On the summit, looking into the North Cascades.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Summit selfie!
Photo: Owen Wilkins
A closer look at the interesting lenticular clouds over Mt Shuksan (9,131')
The winds were high on the summit, so we didn't spend much time up there. Fifteen minutes later, we were hauling back down toward high camp. The descent down the Roman Wall had some spice: it's a 45 degree slope that had barely softened up in time. Plus, we began descending into a white out which made visibility drop to near zero. It was a great time to have a GPS track of our route up, which we did.
Descending the summit ridge in the white out.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Digging out of a crevasse ~8500'.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Whaddya know, it cleared up as we reached high camp.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Too cold for the Summit Scotch on the summit, we broke it out back at high camp.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Photo: Pascal Liddane
We packed up camp after eating and drinking a bit, and we had a great descent back to the Heliotrope Ridge Trail. Easy plunging brought us back to 5100' where we ditched the crampons and rope. We were able to glissade all the way down past the Hogsback into the Heliotrope Creek Basin where we picked up the snow-free trail at about 3800'.
Great glissading down from the Hogsback (~5100', near the skyline of this photo)
Photo: Mike Hasse
Creek crossings were a little more exciting on the way back out.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Gear explosion back at the car.
Photo: Mike Hasse
After enjoying some parking lot beers (courtesy of Ali and Lexa), we packed up and drove out toward our hotel in Mt Vernon. We had the foresight to pre-book a couple of hotel rooms for this night because we suspected we might like to have a shower and hang up our gear to dry. We were right about that.
6/20
We spent our rest day making a slow trip from Mt Vernon down to Rainier National Park, where we planned to camp before our main objective for the trip: Emmons Glacier on Mt Rainier. It was pretty straightforward with the exception of a moment when we learned we couldn't print our climbing permit at any ranger station other than the one at White River, and they might close before we got there. We hustled, and made it 20 minutes before the ranger station closed. We also got to eat some delicious tatchos (tator-tot nachos) at a restaurant in Seattle. Highlight of the trip right there.
Highlight of the trip.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
6/21/17
As I mentioned, our main objective for the trip was Mt Rainier via the Emmons Glacier. Emmons isn't really any more technical than Coleman-Deming on Mt Baker, it's just bigger and higher. One of the reasons we climbed Mt Baker first was to acclimate to the higher altitude a little bit. Nonetheless, Mt Rainier gains an impressive 10,200' of elevation above the White River Trailhead (4,200'). There are several methods to doing it, but we decided to follow my successful strategy from 2014: climb to high camp at Camp Schurman (9500') on Day 1, summit Mt Rainier (14,410') on Day 2, and descend from Camp Schurman on Day 3. This means you have three big, physical days in a row, combined with altitude and glacier travel. Luckily, our weather forecast was fantastic.
White River Trailhead selfie (4200')
Photo: Mike Hasse
Beautiful Glacier Basin Trail (4500')
Photo: Laura Schiller
"Oh there it is, it's still there and it's still f****** huge" - Owen
Photo: Mike Hasse
Listening to Uncle Mike point out routes and talk about the old days of 2014.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Hitting snowline below Glacier Basin (5600')
Photo: Laura Schiller
Well above Glacier Basin, roping up and switching to crampons to climb the Interglacier. Around 7000'.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Owen putting in the boot pack up the Interglacier (~7600').
Photo: Mike Hasse
Slogging up the Interglacier. Around 8200'
Photo: Mike Hasse
Finally getting the goods. Around 9200' and checking out the upper mountain.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Arriving at Camp Schurman (9500').
Photo. Laura Schiller
As soon as we turned the corner around Steamboat Prow (9300') we were hit with wind. It was still a beautiful day, but the winds were a constant 25-30mph hammering camp from the north. We passed an AAI guided group descending from camp, having turned around that morning due to high winds and icy conditions up high. They left two nice tent platforms behind, so we claimed one. We were carrying small two-person bivy tents, so we were able to fit both tents on one platform. I thought this was very reasonable of us. Unfortunately, another AAI guided group came an hour or two after we arrived and were very obnoxious. I have no proof, but I suspect they felt justified being dickheads because we were camped in "their" spot.
High winds forced us into the tent to melt water. First time I've ever used this technique on a mountain. Thankfully, ventilation wasn't an issue at all. Note how Laura is leaning against the windward tent pole in order to keep it from collapsing inward.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Late afternoon at Camp Schurman.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Pretty colors after sunset from Camp Schurman, looking north. Note how close the AAI group built their tent platforms...they were tossing snow on us the entire afternoon.
Photo: Mike Hasse
More pretty colors at Camp Schurman.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Sun setting over Mt Baker to the north.
Photo: Mike Hasse
6/22/: Mt Rainier summit day
Normally on a snow climb such as this, you want to get a very early start in order to avoid the soft snow of afternoon. Anyone who has had to travel through snow when you punch in up to your groin with each step will know what I'm talking about. The rangers were advising later starts, however, in order to give time for the upper mountain to soften up in the sun and low wind. We were originally planning to leave camp around 1:00am, but we pushed it back to 3:45am in order to give the upper mountain time to soften up. We made good time out of Camp Schurman, up the Corridor to the Traverse at 12,000'. Up this high, the snow started to get very icy. We still had a good boot pack from previous groups, but soon we lost it. Around 12,800' we lost the boot pack entirely: we were the first group to get this high in 5-6 days.
Pre-dawn light on Emmons Glacier, with Mt Baker (10,781') and Glacier Peak (10,541') on the horizon.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Sunrise on the Emmons Glacier, around 10,600'
Photo: Laura Schiller
After another 200' of climbing, I decided it was too dangerous to continue as we were. We built an anchor with pickets and tried to wait out the wind and sun, hoping the upper slopes would soften up enough to be safer. After 20 minutes of waiting, we were getting cold and the wind showed no sign of stopping (probably a constant 15-20mph wind since we left camp). We briefly considered continuing up using a running belay, and digging a shelter in the summit crater to wait for the descent to soften enough to be safe. Unfortunately, there were too many variables I couldn't be sure of. I couldn't be sure that the wind would lighten up and the snow would soften at all, and in that case I wasn't sure we wanted to bivy over night in the summit crater. We would have survived, but there was no guarantee that the snow would soften the next day, either. We weren't equipped to spend multiple nights on the summit. We also had a dilemma with our running belay. Since we only had four pickets (used to place protection in steep snow), we would have to make our pitches very, very short. This is a slow strategy, and even though it was sunny, the winds were still high. I was afraid we'd get very cold and not be able to warm up easily. So, we ultimately decided to go down. We used a running belay to slowly descend the 200' back to 12,800' or so back to the end of the boot pack, and then continued down from there as normal.
Building an anchor on the descent, around 12,900'
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Passing the pickets back to the leader by sliding them down the rope.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Last anchor built back at the boot pack, about 12,800'.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Unfortunately, during a rest break at 12,000', tragedy struck. Laura turned around after unclipping her backpack from her harness, and we all watched it tumble about 1500' down the glacier into a nasty icefall. Up until this point, we had been entertaining the idea of spending another night at Camp Schurman and trying again the next day, but this sealed our decision to go down for good. Thankfully she was wearing a lot of her clothes and she still had her ice ax and crampons, which were the essentials. Her sleeping stuff was all safe back in camp as well.
Laura feeling a bit defeated on the descent. About 10,200'.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Making it back to Camp Schurman (9500').
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Looking back at the upper mountain. If you look very closely, you can see a black speck in the center icefall. That's Laura's backpack.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
After some napping and a little debate, we decided we were going to head down back to the car that night. That would give us a full rest day on the 23rd, and a full day on the 24th to do something else before we had to fly out on the 25th. We divided Laura's gear and group gear up among the three of us and made great time back to Glacier Basin with a fantastic glissade (about 2800') down the Interglacier. (Note: as of 6/22/17 there was a big crack open at 8500' on the Interglacier. We descended past it before unroping to glissade).
Departing Camp Schurman that afternoon.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Glissading down the Interglacier.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Photo: Mike Hasse
Photo: Mike Hasse
We were allllllll the way up there this morning...
Photo: Mike Hasse
Seen in the parking lot. I chuckled.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Saying goodbye for now...
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Rainier Brewing Co.
Photo: Mike Hasse
6/23
Since we had decided to descend the night before, we had a full day to rest and figure out what we wanted to do. We decided on the Mt Washington to Mt Ellinor alpine ridge traverse in the Olympics that sounded like it was easy to access and a lot of fun. So we drove up from Mt Rainier and headed toward the Olympics, with a stop at REI for Laura to replace some essential gear she lost on Rainier.
Breakfast at a *ahem PNW coffee shop...
Mt Washington (6261', right, and Mt Ellinor (6121', left) from Highway 101 heading toward Olympic National Forest.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Major gear explosion in Big Creek Campground.
Photo: Mike Hasse
6/24
We left camp and got an early start on the traverse. Mt Washington gains 3500' in 2 miles, with lots of scrambling and steep snow. Unfortunately, after 400' of climbing, we determined that Pascal had a major blister on the front of his ankle where his mountaineering boot flexes. Too painful for him to continue even with treatment. We ultimately decided to descend and go somewhere we could do something as a group. Owen had been to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park and thought that might be a good place we could find some interesting hikes. So we left a cute little coffee shop in Hoodsport and made the trip to the northern end of the peninsula and entered Olympic National Park.
For those who've been to Rocky Mountain National Park, Hurricane Ridge is basically the Trail Ridge Road of the Olympics. While there, we learned of a mountain an easy hike down the ridge, about 3 miles from the visitor center. It would have everything: easy meadow hiking, some scree and talus, some 3rd class scrambling, and finishing with steep snow. The guidebook suggested 2.5 hours to the summit from the visitor center. Perfect. So, we launched up Mt Angeles. We started in trail shoes and Laura, Owen, and I carried our mountain boots. Pascal did the entire thing in his approach shoes, following us up the bootpack we kicked. Laura's crampons worked on his approach shoes so everything worked out well.
Treating Pascal's blister on Mt Washington.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Looking back up at Mt Washington from the trailhead after we turned around.
Photo: Laura Schiller
Deer and the Baily Range from the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, Olympic National Park.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Hiking along Hurricane Ridge toward Mt Angeles
Photo: Mike Hasse
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Photo: Laura Schiller
About to descend some steep snow. Mt Angeles (6,333' in the background).
Photo: Laura Schiller
Losing the climber's trail around 6000'
Photo: Mike Hasse
Still a lot of snow in the Olympics.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Some class 3 scrambling on Mt Angeles
Photo: Mike Hasse
Nearing the summit, 6,250'
Photo: Mike Hasse
Beginning the steep snow toward the summit
Photo: Mike Hasse
Looking north from the top of the snow couloir to the Pacific Ocean and Vancouver Island. (6300')
Photo: Mike Hasse
Photo: Mike Hasse
Final jaunt to the summit
Photo: Mike Hasse
On the summit
Photo: Mike Hasse
Summit pickle.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Awesome glissade down from the summit.
Photo: Mike Hasse
Moving back up the steep snow field on Hurricane Ridge in our trail shoes.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
Heading back to the visitor center.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
We made good time back to our car at the visitor center, and we began our trek back to Seattle. We were planning to meet up with Ali and Jessie for pizza and beer. We ran out of gas on the way back to Port Angeles, but since it's all down hill we were able to make it to the gas station with no issues. We took the Kingston Ferry back to Seattle and had a great time catching up with old and new friends.
Apropos.
Photo: Mike Hasse
On the Kingston Ferry heading toward Seattle.
Photo: Mike Hasse
The morning after...crashing on the gear pile in Ali's apartment.
Photo: Pascal Liddane
This was an excellent trip. Nearly everything went according to plan, and we all had fun and learned something. It's a bummer that we didn't get to summit Mt Rainier, but the mountain isn't going anywhere, and we'll be back. I think we learned something about disappointment and risk management as well. I try very hard to avoid making decisions based on strong emotions when I'm in the mountains; decisions based on fear or a strong longing for a summit or route alike. I think we made a prudent decision this time. While it wasn't as clear cut as some mountain decisions are, I don't regret it.
I'm also glad we turned around on Mt Washington. Pascal offered to wait for us while we completed the Washington-Ellinor traverse, but I much prefer to keep the group together and not leave anyone behind. We found Mt Angeles, and we still got to do some cool scrambling and snow climbing, and everyone was able to do it together. All in all, a fantastic trip!
