This past weekend plans for a St Helens permits fell through so we instead decided on a ski tour of Mount Baker via the Boulder Ridge route. I had previously attempted this route two years ago but ran out of steam at 8600'. This time around I got redemption! Conditions were great and this area is always great for some solitude.
Road: clear to the trailhead, a bit rough AWD recommended
Trail: small patches of snow from the trailhead becoming continuous around 3100', although there are some ski-off shenanigans with the traversing climb at 3500'. The trail has had some significant work since 2 years ago and most blowdowns have been cleared. There were only two to deal with. We stayed in the moraine at 4400' for continuous skinning instead of dealing with the rock climb hand line section.
Upper mountain: route-finding is straightforward and the upper glacier is still plenty filled in.
We camped at 6800' for a Sunday summit push. We were the only group on this route this weekend but we encountered a couple other groups at the summit.
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