completed multi-day class with American Alpine Institute with a summit on Friday, Aug 23.  

Hiked in to Sandy Camp on 8/20. Rained on hard on 8/21.  Class and Glacier travel on 8/22 

Summit bid started at 2 AM.  Hit summit as bad weather and high winds started at 9 AM.  Back at camp at 12 noon.  

Amazing trip and learning experience.  

A crevasse that opened up on the Coleman-Deming route forced a change of plans, and my climb was moved to the Easton Glacier instead. The closure of the Coleman-Deming, combined with a beautiful weekend forecast, made for a very busy weekend on Baker. Despite the traffic, my trip was one for the books, due in part to my awesome guide Vince (Baker Mountain Guides).

Delayed trip report from our trip up the Easton Glacier on Sunday July 7th. 4 people in our party, we did not go with a guide.

Started Saturday morning from the Park Butte trailhead @ 9 AM, made it up the railroad camp to Sandy Camp just before noon. Found a nice spot on the rock/dirt as a group was packing up to leave. Water source was close by, just down the hill a little bit to a little stream trickle.

Set-up camp and practiced snow skills for a few hours. Was nice to see so many other groups doing the same. 

Bed-time @ 7:30 PM (We tried at least). Alarm went off at 1:15. The guided group sleeping by us had a midnight wake-up call, but they were quiet and respectful.

Started hiking @ 2:46 AM, crampons and ropes went on immediately, although a bunch of other groups didn't do this for quite some time. 

Had a few snow bridge and crevasse crossings. There was one that was opened up on both sides, we moved quickly through, but the snow felt solid and was about 10 feet wide, although you never know when it could collapse. Very obvious boot pack going up the entire way! The snow was pretty soft for the first few hours. 

There are two bootpacks leading up to the Sherman Crater... take the one to the left that doesn't get too close to the rock fall and cut over to peek into the crater!! Sooo cool, by far our favorite view of the day.

Weather was foggy and we were in a cloud. Our hair was frozen from the moisture :) 

Roman wall was steep but good switchback bootpack.

Made it to the top at 8:26 AM. Stayed until about 9:15.

We let 46 guided climbers pass us on our way down! Probably should have figured out how to pass safely, but we were on a weird turn on the swithback and i didn't feel comfortable stepping above or below the trail.

Summit was beautiful, but a little windy. :) 

Once passing the Sherman crater, we got caught in a "whiteout", it was hard to see our entire group of 4 if you were the first person in line. We followed the boot-pack but had to really keep our eyes open for where the snow bridge crossings were.

Got back to camp around and it was raining really hard, which made for a not so fun pack-up and hike down :) 

All in all it's a great route right now as of a few days ago. Definitely recommend. Be safe and have the route downloaded in case conditions change! 

Car to car climb via Easton glacier.

Gpx: https://www.gaiagps.com/public/F5Tb7kgDxKR2QFEo2kDoq9pP/?layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet 

We each only carried 1-1.5L of water to begin with, knowing that the first guaranteed running water will be 1,500ft up @4,800ft, where a sign pointed a short side trail to a stream. Continuous snow started @6,000ft camp. Mostly snow camping while there were a few melted out bivy spots. A group camped @6,400ft next to a rock island where there's running water and didn't have to melt snow for water. @6,500ft, snow became firmer and we started seeing visible crevasses opening up, we roped up, and took out crampons, helmet and ice axe. Gentle slope and established boot paths all the way to the summit, almost a groomed trail, some of which were unnecessarily winding and short switchbacks, which made rope managing/side switching a pain. Foot-wide crevasses here and there that you could easily step across, just keep the rope taut, although you'll be walking by massive crevasses. The slope steepened past the false summit, the steepest part of the climb, boot path were deep and staircase like. 

Summit was a snow hill. Gorgeous panoramic view. Very windy. The most stinky WA volcano summit lol - strong smell of sulphur from the crater. 

Plunge stepped down mashed potato snow. Saw some recent small rockfalls just above the camp. More exposed rocks and thinner snow bridges around them. Overall a straightforward climb in prime condition with minimal rockfalls and crevasses hazards. Remember to apply lots of sunscreen and chapstick even in the shaded area. 

8hrs up and 5hrs down including breaks. 

2am Park butte trailhead

4:30am 6,000ft camp

10am Summit

1:15pm 6,000ft camp

3pm Trailhead 

Hiked up the Railroad grade for the first time for attempt at Mount Baker via the Easton Glacier.  Didn't summit due to weather the next day but what a great approach to the glacier.  The road up to the trailhead is in decent shape with only minor potholes easy to navigate.  The trail is looking good (thanks WTA!) with only small patches of snow.  Once you get on the Railroad grade it is a phenomenal hike along a ridge with Kulshan beaming radiantly.  You can hike up to high camps before stepping onto the glacier.  Definitely recommended for a day hike as well.  Lots of climbing parties out & about.