Glen99, Soaring Eagle, DaniilMag, Glen99’s son, and I summited Mount Baker this morning July 28th. We woke up at High Camp on the Easton Glacier at 1am and were on our ascent at 2am. Once on the glacier, we put on our crampons, and roped up.

Even though we had a previous track from a week ago and there was a boot path in the snow from all the previous summit attempts in the recent days, we still lost the track in dark heading up, as it weaves in and out of the crevasses. We for the most part would pick it up shortly. We caught a great sunrise heading up, along with seeing the city lights far down below us. Once we got up to the Roman Wall it was bright enough to turn off the headlamps. The upper part of the Roman Wall was snow free, and was a bit of a pain to get up, as it was loose scree.

There was another 3 person rope team that caught us, and got to the summit before us. They were still there when we reached the summit at 6:40am, so we shared some photos with them, before they headed down. They were camped next to us at the highest point of the climbers camp. We had the summit to ourselves, but didn’t stay long, as it was quite brisk.

On the way down we made an attempt of Sherman Peak, but ran into some nasty loose scree and rock scrambling, and turned around. Coming down in the daylight was nice as we could see all the crevasses we had to negotiate. Some of them were quite large, and spectacular. We got down to our camp somewhere around 11:30am. We took a bit of a break as we were all pretty tired. After our break we packed up our camp and hiked out. Lots of climbing parties heading up for a weekend ascent to the summit.

We got back to our cars at 3pm. 15.6 miles with 7893 ft gain, which included a little exploring around camp searching for water, and the trip over towards Sherman Peak. Spectacular trip!!!

Tackled Mount Baker with Kidz Won't Hike, DaniilMag, SoaringEagle, and JDog, first time as a rope team together, first time unguided climb for most. Everyone had been trained on glacier travel (or done so with guided climbs) and completed crevasse rescue training. Fun and long 24+ hours with overnight camp and 1am wake up. I've seen some recent reports that imply the climb is in great condition and easy. That may be true for someone experienced and Easton Glacier is an easier climb as climbing routes go, but don't underestimate this. The glaciers, crevasses, and seracs are plenty and massive, it can feel like full on winter at the end of July, and the weather comes in very fast. The snow was very hard all the way up and half way down and pretty much required crampons to travel and there was no way you were going to get a picket or ice axe in to create and anchor if needed. Would have needed an ice screw. Compared to when I climbed it guided in early July 2019, the Roman Wall snow field is in much worse shape - steep and icy and tricky scree field at the top, though there is a decent boot path. It's very hard to avoid knocking rocks loose on those below. 

We hiked in Thu around 1pm. The parking lot was completely full when we arrived, but as luck would have it a pickup pulled out of the spot right across from the outhouses and we were able to get 2 vehicles parked. Score! We hiked as high as possible to set up camp around 6400', with only a short hike to the beginning of the glacier travel. There are tent spots all over the rocky ridges up there. Water sources were better lower down. We luckily found one close to camp, but by day 2 it had dried up. We set up our rope and harnesses and reviewed crevasse rescue technique and confirmed the rope order that night. We had 5 people on a 70m rope, putting the most experienced people on front and back with the excess rope for rescue tucked into backpacks. 

We went to tents around 8pm and set 1am wake up. None of us really got any sleep. And for some reason, a helicopter swung by around 10:30pm several times and quite low and even shone a spotlight briefly. That didn't help sleep. We were surprised that we didn't see any of the guided climbing teams down below awake at 2am. A party of 3 nearby and us 5 were the only ones on the mountain early. We set off at 2:15am and carried ropes and crampons over to the start of the glacier. Because the snow is so hard and melts out during day, the boot track is not visible in dark in places down low. We had a recent GPX track and DaniilMag on front did a great job finding the path. The trail is pretty straight up unless it has to avoid crevasses. There are crevasses all the way from start of glacier to Roman Wall area. We probably had to step over 40-50 small to medium size crevasses up to 2' wide. And of course the trail skirts around many many larger ones, which becomes clear in the daylight on the way back down. We made good time getting to the Roman Wall and had a break here as most do. The snow field after is steep, sun cupped, and rock hard snow. The better trail is the left fork after the Wall. The scree field at the top is alternatively frozen and loose. We had advice to be very mindful of the rope here as not to knock rocks down on teams below. We luckily didn't have anyone below us coming up and on the way down we waited for one party to get to top. They may have had the right idea. They unroped for the entire Roman Wall snow and scree section. There are really no crevasses in this section. Above the scree there is further snow travel until you get near the summit which is melted out and another 50' hike up. Views were amazing and clear at 6:30am, but it was cold and windy so we just took pics and high fived and then made our way back to a spot just above the Roman Wall scree to have a break in the sun. We were lucky since clouds moved in after we summited and probably many later parties didn't have great views. Lots of guided groups coming up later. Descending was uneventful and tiring as expected. We got back to camp just before 11am, rested a bit, packed up, and hiked out. Given it was Friday afternoon, the camp and trail was much much busier! Always better to climb on a weekday if you can. The Roman Wall section is going to be dangerous with rockfall with so many groups going up and down simultaneously. I wouldn't want to experience that. 

Stats: 15.4 miles, 7480' gain over the 2 days. 

Gear: It was cold enough that I was wearing all my layers at some point even going uphill. Wool t-shirt and hoodie, down jacket, and gore-tex shell. Medium wind and water resistant pants. Also had a soft-shell that I wore for much of the hike up until it got too cold and I switched to down + hardshell. Light hats, medium gloves, and buff were worn as well. Full set of mountaineering gear. We had 3 sets of crevasse rescue gear worn in positions 2, 4, and 5 on the rope. Like I mentioned though, I don't see how you could get a picket into that snow. We did have members punch through snow a few times, but more posthole than crevasse drop. 

Weather: We tracked weather on forecast.weather.gov and mountain-forecast. com. There were clouds, and small chance of rain and thunder projected for our hike in and camp and for late morning after the summit. The clouds were accurate but we never got any precip or stormy weather. 

GPX track: https://www.peakbagger.com/climber/ascent.aspx?aid=2261465

The best thing about summiting a mountain, any mountain is the after climb/hike feast. I dreamt of double stacked cheese burgers fresh off the grill or a large deep dish pepperoni pizza with a giant Caesar salad. 

I sat in my tent after a pretty gluttonous mountain meal; shredded seasoned chicken with a Cole slaw topping and BBQ sauce with a hot apple cider for dessert. Our guides cooked up a pretty tasty dinner. It was now 8pm and I needed some sleep prior to the 3am wake up call. I tossed and turned on my inflatable Therma-rest. It was nearly impossible to get comfortable on that thing. I dozed in and out of a slumber until about midnight when I got unbearably too cold to not cuddle up in my sleeping bag. I was too lazy to get it out initially and now I regretted that decision. My inReach read 12:01am and wake up was literally in less than three hours. And here I am, still a rookie mountaineer struggling to make such an easy decision- get the sleeping bag out, curl up in it and fall asleep. 

"Get your bowls and come to the mess tent!" yelled one of the Guides.

"Already?!" I mumbled to myself as I snapped on my headlamp. I had everything preset in order to make getting ready a breeze. Harness already set up, all I had to do was slip it on. Gaiters laid out. All I had to do was lace up my boots and put them on. Crampons stayed in the carrying case until we were about to depart. I slipped my sun shirt on, pulled my cap down and stumbled out of my tent. Struggling to gain my mountain legs through the short walk to the mess tent was harder in the dark. I slid into the mess tent and murmured a "good morning". I ate my oat meal in silence. 

Back at my tent, I got all my gear together and started putting stuff on; helmet, harness, grabbed my ice axe and trekking pole, pulled on my crampons and stood next to my tent awaiting direction. I could feel my heart beat in my throat. My nerves were shook. It was go-time. Our guides gave us one more friendly reminder to bring glacier glasses- if someone forgot theirs, unfortunately there'd be no summit attempt for that unlucky individual. 

We scaled the rocks for about 10 minutes before we were led onto the Easton Glacier. Baker stood tall. An enormous mountain of rock, ice and snow stood before us welcoming us to conquer it. The twilight was slowly fading as the sun crept higher and higher. Stars slowly disappeared as the moon faded. We dug in. Step after step working our "duck walk" and "rest step" up the slopes of Mount Baker. 

The objective seemed clear. With every passing step we worked towards what was called The Cauldron. A steaming hole near the top of the mountain spewing hot vaping water and sulphur. It was quite an experience to witness let alone sit by it for ten or so minutes. The Guides were really good about keeping us on schedule. We would climb for about an hour or so and then rest for ten minutes. Packs off. Re-up on sun screen, sip some water and eat a snack. "eaters are summitters" they'd repeat to us, over and over again. It was true, though. Although, we weren't moving at an alarming rate up the mountain, our goal was to conserve as much energy as possible while climbing. The rest step was key to meeting our objective and refueling up along the way was paramount. Eat even if you didn't feel like it. 

We sat at The Cauldron watching passing teams coming down and going up. One of our team members had to call it quits due to severe leg cramps. Surprisingly, my legs didn't feel tired at all. But then again, and not to discount any training they did or didn't do but I trained for this climb for ten months. I focused on long, slow runs, weighted vest runs, long hikes, and many, many hours on my Rogue bike. I also spent significant time in the gym strengthening my core and legs. Even so, I wanted to quit. When I learned that one of our team members was going back down with one of the three Guides that led us up here, I wanted to throw in life's proverbial towel. I had an out. I wanted so bad to take it. But that's the mental back and forth that went on. All that work for ten months. Nearly a thousand feet left to the summit. All that time spent training and now a weekend away from family and friends and the creature comforts of a flushing toilet, a soft bed, warm food, coffee at the press of a button .. and you want to quit..now?

"Packs on! Gear up! Let's get this Roman Wall!" The Guides hollered.

Oh, it was really time to punch in. The Roman Wall was no joke. 45% sloping angle of Mount Baker. The final push to the top. The Guides reassured us that this would be the hardest we'd work and then it was smooth as butter for the last 200 feet. I'm not going to lie. I shocked myself that I made it up that thing. There's one section near the top of the Roman Wall that's all dirt and mud and I was up on the tips of my crampons to make it. We were all huffing and puffing at the top. Even one of the Guides. Coming down was going to certainly be interesting.

July 6th, we started out with nine climbers. At Gear check we were down to eight. On July 7th, we were down to six. At the Cauldron, we were down to five. Just the five of us. We trudged on. Roped up like on an assembly line. The tip of the true summit popped into view. It looked like it was five miles away. I could see two or three climbers on the top of it making their way down. As we reached the base of the true summit, I wanted to be done. I didn't want to walk another step. We took a five minute break here, dropped our packs and got some water. The breaks we took really helped. Aching shoulders from carrying pack weight, tired legs and morale beat into the ground. The breaks pumped life back into us. The water rejuvenated our tired bodies and the snacks we ate got us back on our crampon clad feet.  This was the moment. Quitting again entered my mind. I even mumbled, "I'm not going up there". What about a cool photo with an ice axe? Or the missed opportunity to sign the summit registry? This moment, this one right here was why you came. This is a must. The Guides preached, "going up is optional, coming down is mandatory." Well, I disagree. I had to make this. This was mandatory. 

One step at a time. Digging those crampons in. I put one foot and then the other on the summit of Mount Baker. It was like a dream. 15 years ago, I could barely hike Rattlesnake Ledge without severely cramping up. Even five years ago, I struggled on Vesper Peak and before that, I struggled on Hidden Lake Lookout. Easy day hikes now, (in hindsight) but back then I wasn't training as hard as I had for Mount Baker. Standing on the summit of Mount Baker, for me was a true testament that your results will vary depending on how much work you put into your goals. We hugged, we high fived, we took our photos- the summit to ourselves for about ten minutes before another team started their last push to victory.

Back at the base of the true summit, we roped back up, gathered all of our gear, reveled in our success, grouped hugged one last time before our long descent down. It would be plunge steps nearly the whole way. When we reached the Roman Wall, our Lead Guide put us on a short rope and put me out front to lead us down. He guided from the rear, occasionally giving directions but for the most part, set us up to cross into one of the switchbacks and back onto the main tracks back to The Cauldron. Once we got to The Cauldron, our Guide put us back on a long rope and we headed out. 

Hours went by, and we finally reached a little rocky island where our Guides finally took us off the ropes. It hadn't really sank in yet. My legs were a little tender, not entirely too bad like I thought they'd be. I wasn't in too bad of shape- I felt fine. Being that this was my third outing in my mountaineering boots, my feet felt great. My boots were now officially broke in. All my gear held up and I was excited to get back to camp. 

I envisioned a group of people at Camp standing in the rocks clapping as we arrived. I envisioned dropping gear and reporting to the mess tent for celebratory drinks and food and laughing and high fives all around. I envisioned this over inflated party with banners and all the trimmings just waiting for us when we got back. 

"Okay, team! Great work! Dinner is at 6pm, you are free to do what you like- explore, just don't wander too far from camp, get some water, snacks, take a break..." said one of the Guides. 

The truth was; many people summit Mount Baker daily. It's not some major accomplishment that the world has to stop and pat you on the back and hold you up on their shoulders parading you around camp. For most people, Mount Baker is the entry way into Mountaineering. It's a slight bump in the road to bigger and better things, bigger climbs or for some... off the couch, can I do this? Maybe I over trained for this. Maybe I trained just enough. Mount Baker is an achievable goal. For those thinking about it, it's an experience of a life time. Was it hard? I think so. But having trained as much as I did, made it less hard. 

I sat in my tent staring up at the ceiling. The big black letters, (backwards) "The NorthFace" stared back. You did it. Tears welled up in my eyes as I read some bible passaged sent to me by family members. Those people standing at camp applauding and cheering for me? They existed. They were at home. Waiting for me to return. The love and support I received that propelled me up Mount Baker was very real. The hours I spent training and working for this was very real. This wasn't some major Mount Everest expedition to me but to those who supported me? Maybe they viewed this as an Everest Expedition. This was their little Everest. And that's where the true gratitude needs to be syphoned towards. Love who supports you, and tell them how much you appreciate them. Because without support, you won't climb any mountain.  

As I sit here writing this trip report, I think... now what? In three days time, or even two... it'll be back to training because there are more mountains to climb. Life continues. The sun comes up and the sun goes down. Tomorrow is a new day. 

Go get your Little Everest. 

1st Mt. Baker summit via Easton Glacier route.  Camped at about 6,200 feet 1 night.  Plenty of water sources.  Summit push on 7/1 started at 0115, reaching summit at 0730.  Back to car at 1600.  Good boot pack to follow from crater rim up Roman Wall.  Trail leads around large crevasses, only had to step over a few small ones.  Good 1st experience.

Passed a lot of people headed up trail on Saturday 7/1.  Parking was lined down both sides of roadway near trailhead Saturday.  Think my group picked right by heading up Friday.  Would recommend mid/late week summit push.

Mt Baker climb via the Coleman Demming route.  Three day itinerary.

I'm about two weeks late filing this report but I have not seen any other reports on this Mt Baker climbing route on Washington Trails so I figured better late than never.

The first thing you need to know about this route is that the road to the trail head is closed 4.5 miles and 2,500' below the trail head.  This adds significant round trip distance to the climb.  It keeps the crowds down since most people are taking the Easton Glacier route.  There were about 20 cars parked at the road closure on a Saturday morning.  Hiking the road was not as bad as I thought.  It is intermittent asphalt and gravel.  The road has been closed for several years and portions of the asphalt sections are getting covered with a good layer of pine needles which makes the surface a little softer.  About half the people we encountered on this first section were using bikes to do the road section, including some e-bikes.  The vault toilet at the actual trail head is open but not being maintained.  The trail from the actual trail head to the first camp is beautiful and similar to many other fine trails you have probably done in Washington's Cascades.  There are 3 - 4 stream crossings with no bridge that you will have to negotiate.  Water levels will vary throughout the day depending on temperature and whether or not it is raining.  They were pretty easy in the morning and we were able to get across all of them with boots on.

If you are doing a multi-day itinerary the first camps are Harrison Camp and Hogs Back camp.  We chose Harrison camp which is about a half mile off the main trail and has a privy.  We figured it would be less crowded than Hogs Back camp which is right on the main route.  It was full but we managed to find room for our tents and everyone took the close quarters in stride.  There is a good water source near by.  The camp is in the trees.  Be sure to take in the glacier view from the edge of the ridge.  It is quite dramatic.

Day two we ascended to Black Butte camp at about 7,200'.  This was a relatively short and easy day.  We passed through Hogs Back camp on the way and this is also an excellent camp just above tree line with many sites and only a few groups camped.  There are a number of excellent water sources here and we chose to fill all of our water carrying capacity before we hit the snow.  You encounter your first snow just above Hogs Back camp when you ascend the Hogs Back Headwall.  As the name implies it's steep but there were no signs of crevasses.  There were several boot paths up the snow but we opted to make our own route.  We were roped at this point but it wasn't necessary.  Once you reach the top of the head wall its a traverse over to Black Butte camp.

I should mention that we were a little uncertain that we were at Black Butte camp.  It may have been Castle Rock camp but there were no other camps apparent in the area.  There are rock patches here with some tent pads but they were all full so we set up our tents on the snow.  We had some rock area available for cooking and hanging out.  We did not find a water source here.  One of the other climbers told us there was a small trickle at the next rock patch below us but we did not investigate.  We did some snow melting and were also allowed to use a still made by one of the other climbers in which they lay a black plastic bag in a depression in the snow and use the sun to melt snow for water.  It was pretty effective and a technique to remember for future Alpine endeavors.

We spent the afternoon practicing crevasse rescue techniques, and preparing to climb.  We met one group here that was returning from a successful summit via the North Ridge route and one solo climber that had climbed Coleman Demming.  Around 5:00 PM we got hit by a thunder storm and had to hunker down in our tents.  Rain was pretty heavy at times and there was some hail.  Within two hours it had passed and we were able to make dinner and make preparations for our Alpine start.

We started climbing at 2:00 AM.  There were two other groups camped in our area that started an hour before us.  There was a well established boot path the whole way which is really nice for route finding in the dark.  As is usually the case, the climbers route wends it's way around the crevasses and there are quite a few.  We did have to cross over a few fracture lines that will most likely become crevasses in future weeks.  The slope angle is not very steep until you get to the base of the Roman Wall which is very steep.  There were well established steps to use and the snow condition was excellent.  This wall does not get the morning sun.  The sides of the boot path were like swiss cheese with ice axe holes but you could plant your axe in existing holes and they felt secure.  Once you reach the top of the Roman Wall you are basically on the summit plateau which is large.  We were told by a guide on night one to stay roped up on the plateau as there are crevasses.  We did not see any.  The summit plateau was clouded in and we needed GPS to find our way to the actual summit - Grant Peak.  When the summit started to appear through the clouds we thought we had about another 300' to climb but it is actually not high at all.  You will know you are there when you find the summit register.  We hit the summit right around 8:00 AM and had it all to ourselves.  It was Monday morning.

We didn't linger long on the summit as it was windy and there was nothing to see due to the clouds.  It was full sun below the summit plateau so we opted to descend a ways before taking a meaningful break.  Descending the Roman Wall was the diciest part of the entire climb.  I would not want to do it in soft snow conditions.  It was still in the shadow of the mountain at 9:00 AM.  The snow condition was good for arrest but the angle is steep and the fall line is right into a heavily crevassed area.  You will want to take your time on this descent.

Other than the two solo climbers we encountered, everyone was roped up for the climb.  One of the solo climbers passed through Black Butte camp before dinner time but got hit by the thunder storm and did not make the summit.  We were relieved to see him heading down later with his tail between his legs.

We descended back to our camp, broke camp and hiked out to the car.  This was a very long day.  18 hours total.  GAIA said we covered about 14 miles.  Total descent was about 9,000'.  When we got back below tree line another thunder storm rolled in and we got rained on for most of the rest of the hike out.  It was later in the day than when we went up and the streams were running fuller and a little more difficult to cross.  We didn't mind.  It wasn't cold and we were happy to have the snow hazards behind us.

All in all the route is well worth doing if you don't mind the extra distance. I think it's much less crowded than the Easton Glacier route based on the other trip reports I have read.