I don’t know where the line is between climb/hike. But I think if you have to be roped to another person for safety, it qualifies as a climb 😊  This was my first climb. So if you're also a noob, or are considering doing this for the first time, don't hesitate to ask questions in the comments below!

Overall, the pain & suffering of training for much of the summer & the AMAZING things you’ll see along the way made the trip totally worthwhile.  It is definitely something I’m glad I did, and will probably do again.

We went up via the Coleman-Deming route.

Training - It doesn’t require a tremendous amount of technical skills, but it does require some training.  It is a very strenuous hike, so you need to be prepared.  That’s not just running up & down nearby hills but doing those tougher trails with 40+ lbs on your back.

As far as the training, we got ours in a few hours while up on the mountain.  You learn how to walk on snow with/without crampons, some arrest techniques to help prevent you or your teammates from falling & getting hurt, and how to walk together as part of a rope team.  It sounds scary, but really it was a ton of fun.  And it was a HUGE boost to my confidence.  During training, we practiced having one of the team members suddenly fall to make sure the others could hold.  Those harnesses look a little flimsy & I wasn’t sure if it would hold me up.  But they worked great.  And it may just be luck, but nobody in our team needed to use any of the self/team arrest techniques on the hike.  Yes, there were a few slips/falls, but just a temporary loss of balance and not careening down the mountain.

Do it right – If you think you’re in shape to do it, I would STRONGLY suggest that you work with a guiding company.  It’s totally worth the cost.  Most of them will also rent you gear (some of these items can be expensive).  This is definitely not a place where you can just “wing it” and follow the trail.  Most trips are 3 days.  Day 1 = Drive to Baker & hike to base camp.  Day 2 = learn snow skills (and depending on weather/how training went, some companies may decide to summit on day 2).  Day 3 = Summit, back to camp to rest/pack & then hike out (which makes for a very long day).   I went with Miyar Adventures in Redmond & had a great experience.

Weather – We got very lucky and it was perfect the entire time.  It was colder @ base camp the first night than it was @ the summit on the 3^rd day.  The last 1-2 miles on the way down, the snow was so soft that it was almost like we were walking in slurpees.

Camp conditions – We stayed at the 5k camp (Hogsback).  There’s snow right next to the camp, but nothing on the campsites.  I was surprised by how many people were there (and more arriving as we were leaving Sunday afternoon).  Even though there were a lot of campers, there was generally a pretty good buffer between the campsites & you couldn’t hear them.  The downside though is that there’s not a lot of privacy to “do your business”.  Also, there are no toilets in camp, so make sure to pick up blue bags at the trailhead (or spring for the fancy ones from REI).

There’s apparently a higher camp @ 6k feet, and we saw a few brave soles camped out up there.  But why camp on the ice & snow when you don’t have to?

Other advice – Make sure to eat/drink enough during your climb.  You don’t want to run out of energy, or cramp up during the climb like I did (fortunately with support from my teammates, I was able to recover quickly and make it to the top).  There are a number of streams @ base camp where you can get additional water.  It’s runoff from the glacier, but I’d still strongly suggest filtering/purifying it in some way first.  Aquatabs are cheap and much lighter than a stove + fuel.

#ProTip – Definitely bring extra toilet paper.

Car to Car Mount Baker summit attempt up Colman Demming Route.  Hit the Heliotrope trailhead about 10:30 PM. 

Hiking Portion: Hiked up to the base of the glacier in the dark.  The road has a few large potholes and turnouts for letting other cars pass.  The trailhead was busy with many hikers and climbers taking advantage of the great weekend weather.  A rather interesting time to hike a trail at night - poor visibility, but very interesting at the creek crossings, as the spray reflected on our headlamp lights illuminating our path in the most interesting ways.  3-4 creek crossings requiring large rock navigation.  WTA was performing work on the trail upon our return in the AM, working to build ramps and other structures to aid in navigation - parts of the trail are rough roots, stumps, and other natural obstacles making for an interesting path in the dark. 

Climbing Portion: Started the climb about 5700 feet at Hogsback Camp.  Gained an initial snowfield, then put crampons on for the Hogsback Headwall - this was steep and slushy so be warned - not too much fun in the dark, but the benefit was I could not see what I was climbing - only up - must have been 25+ rope teams.  After the crest of the headwall, the snow was firm and crunchy.  Very cool to see all the headlamps of the parties strung up along the route.  There is a recent icefall about 8200-8600 feet - about two weeks old per guides.  The route climbs up around to pumice ridge, then gains the Roman Headwall to the final summit.  I bailed just pas the ice falls, but my party submitted.  An absolutely perfect day for climbing.  The weather was calm, warm and sunny.

Coming down: In the daylight, the descent from the snowfield/glacier border was down the steep ridgeline, riddled with large rocks.  We ascended in the dark - making for a mysterious trail.   I was great to see the trail in the light, alpine meadows, snowfields, serac fields - a true classic alpine setting.  Many wildflowers are in bloom - Indian paintbrush, lupine, coltsfoot, alpine thistles, among others.  More pictures and GPX route in the link to my AllTrails recording.  Enjoy!

Climbed Baker by Easton Glacier route.

We came Saturday morning to trailhead, it were many cars there parked along the road. Trailhead still not accessible you have to stop few hundred feet before.

Trail all the way covered with snow but it still firm and easy to go. We crossed the river that flows from the mountain by boulders but next day it was much more water and we crossed it by fallen tree. In 2-3 hours we reached end of Rrailroad grade and set camp at area where trees ends. At camp we was doing some crevasse rescue and self arrest training but rain stopped us but later rewarded us with great rainbow.

Next morning at 3.30 am we started climb, put crampons on, ropes, axes. When we reached actual end of Railroad Grade we have seen many tents there, lots of people was climbing mountain that day. Firm snow, good boot prints gave us easy climb up. Glacier in excellent condition still, no crevasses, we crossed one actually but it was very narrow, just step over it. Step by step we reached the crater, took some photos, food and headed up to the summit. After the crated Roman Wall begins. It is steep but but easy doable with ice axe and crampons. Trail goes as switchbacks and we stuck few times trying to divide narrow trail with other rope teams going down but it is ok, as I said it was busy day at the mountain. After Roman Wall you have to climb little bit more but less stepper slope where you can see the summit, walk few minutes by flat field and you there! Very strong wind on the summit pushed us back in 5 mins.

Descent was long but beautiful, we spent some time at the crater again for food and photos. Rest of the way snow was much softer and easy to go down, we got back to the camp in 2-2.5 hours.

My fourth WA volcano!

On May 14th we Climbed Mount Baker snow was melting rapidly and you could get to the Trailhead, but you had to walk a short distance on the snow covered road. I also made a video along the way you can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDJzVpyON7c 

 Be safe out there,                                                                                           NW Adventures

The snow-covered road to the heliotrope trailhead added an extra mile each way to our summit of Mount Baker. The weather was perfect - sunny and mild with minimal wind. The heliotrope trail still had snow but even the 36 hours between our ascent and descent a significant amount of snow had melted. On the Coleman Glacier, the crevasses were easy to spot and while the Roman Wall was icy in the morning by the time we celebrated at the top we were post-holing back to basecamp. A few long glissades on the way down made for a manageable descent. All together it was a great first summit!