Summit via Coleman Glacier Route from Heliotrope Trailhead.

A group of scouts climbed Mount Baker Summit in a long slow adventure starting at Heliotrope Trailhead, Hogsback Camp for two nights while awaiting good weather, followed by 24 hours to climb to the summit and return to the cars. 

Heliotrope Trail 

This is a nice, well-maintained trail. The trailhead had room for us and the bathroom was clean and well stocked on Friday morning. The river crossing on the way in was really fun. We had to hike upstream a little to get a good crossing spot. Wearing hiking boots with gaiters worked perfectly. The water was over the boot, but my socks stayed dry. Poles for balance crossing the river were also really helpful. Mud here and there, but no complaints. We didn't encounter snow until we arrived at Hogsback Camp where we had a little snow to cross to get up into camp areas that have mostly melted out. 

For the hike out after the summit, we started our hike out on Sunday at dusk. The mosquitoes were brutal from the snow line until we were deep into the forest. Wildflowers were blooming as we left camp. We had no gaiters on the way out, so boots were pretty wet after the water crossing. The bathrooms at the trailhead were in disarray and toilet paper was gone after the busy weekend.

Hogsback camp

It was great to have running water in camp and nice camp sites. The wind was a bit much while we were getting the tents set up, but helped ensure we did a good job of anchoring them with the abundant rocks. There are a lot of camping opportunities - lots of choices with varying degrees of privacy. There were no bugs. There were mice in camp at night, but they didn't bother us or get into tents. A mountain goat came visiting, too!

Summit Climb

We started our climb at 11:30 PM on Saturday, thinking we would arrive at the summit by sunrise. We learned that our pace on Mount St Helens in May was not a good judge of what it would take to make this steeper climb, roped up and distracted with route-finding. It was an amazing night, watching the sunset and then the shift to twilight and an amazing dance of the Milky Way, satellites, and shooting stars. We may have spent too much time gawking. The sun came up and headlamps were put away. The snow was great. With crampons, walking on the hard crust was awesome, and in areas where we broke through, we didn't sink far. Navigation wasn't too challenging with so much other traffic on the mountain. There are a lot of crevasses to avoid and we were thankful for the extensive training and preparation we had made.

The wall before the summit was a killer. There was a lot of conversation about whether to stay roped up and potentially floss everyone behind us if someone slipped. Most everyone we saw stayed roped up. There was a traffic jam near the top -- multiple rope teams were bunched up, waiting to sneak through the steep and narrow gap from the wall onto the summit plateau. Standing around on the side of the wall was brutal for tired legs. One highlight was when the sun got high enough in the sky for it to shine down on us and the wall was finally bathed in daylight. Once through the gap, the last final push was a struggle, but we eventually joined the rest of the crew and collapsed in the snow. 

We started our descent pretty late. The bottle neck at the rocks to get off the summit was still a challenge. Both due to the narrow space and the challenge of climbing down, toes in, for a while before it was less steep and we could get to plunge stepping. It was a long slog out in the soft snow and made us a bit jealous of the skiers who were having the times of their lives, hooting and hollering.

Some of us were sleep-walking as we finally arrive at camp at 5:30 PM. We contemplated staying one more night, but decided it was time to pack things up and head for home. We cleaned up some of the trash (and even blue bags?) left behind by other campers, doing our good turn to leave no trace. 

Weather

For us, climbing Mount Baker was all about the weather. Our plan was to go on Wednesday, but the forecast told us Thursday would be bad, so we waited. Thursday turned to Friday and we headed up. While in camp on Friday, we talked with people coming down the mountain who had not been successful in their summit attempts, due to rain and wind. We made the choice to wait one more day and go up Saturday night/Sunday morning instead. The wait was worth it -- I don't think we would have made it with worse weather.

Road

That road is the pits. Literally. Single lane for most of it with car- swallowing potholes. Just be careful.

Scouting

This was a great weekend for Scouting. Our troop of six male scouts and five adults summited, and we were surprised to meet a group of female scouts and leaders from another troop in camp and then to see them on the summit trail. We call this "High Adventure" in our programs and it was amazing to see scouts in action, completing this great challenge and getting up and down safely. We were impressed watching the other crew working their way up the mountain at their own synchronized, a little bit faster, pace.