Glacier Peak — Thursday, Aug. 3, 2023

4-day glacier summit (Suiattle/Cool)

Easy & pleasant forest hike along the river to Mackinaw Shelter. There's a toilet at the campground. Plenty of large old cedars, doug firs, and hemlocks. Water available and bugs not too bad. Trail then turns up hill. The next 3 miles of switchbacks are frequently in the sun - it gets hot, and the bugs are unpleasant. There is a good water source about a mile up, and a couple more close to White Pass. Trail levels off when you hit the PCT, and the last half mile goes through lovely marmot-filled meadows. Blueberries available. Wildflowers are going off. Go off, wildflowers! There are two toilets at White Pass, and the bugs are manageable (I'm from the midwest, so add or subtract a grain of salt to that assessment depending on your bug tolerance!). Note: camping isn't allowed on the ridge, but a lot of people were set up there. Don't do it! There are plenty of clearly marked sites off the ridge.

Trail starts off from the ridge through more beautiful meadows. One steep section up that's full of black flies, then you cross a saddle and get your first views of the peak. Lots of up and down through rocky terrain / moraines to Glacier Gap - feels a lot longer than it looks on a map! Views on a clear day are incredible (less so on a smoky day). There is one crossing of the outflow from the White Chuck glacier that is a little dicey at high volume. The trail leads directly to one good step-over. Going up toward the glacier is also an option as the flow is a little less. Plenty of water available throughout this section, and there are a few sedimenty tarns before the final ascent to Glacier Gap. Some folks were camped here, as there is no water at Glacier Gap. We opted to continue on over the next ridge beyond GG and past the snowfield (there is a path across, or you can avoid the snow via the other path on the rocks to the right). At the bottom of the snowfield there is running water and several campsites. No snow camping necessary, and surprisingly warm overnight. Unfortunately the smoke rolled in by the time we woke up. 

We started at 3:30am in order to be off the summit in case of possible thunderstorms (which thankfully never materialized). Right now you can drop down onto the glacier as soon as the trail turns scrambly (recommended; we started up over the rocks which is a little unpleasant in the dark, and ended up turning back). We roped up & added crampons here, which is good because you can move through some of the sketchy parts quickly. Bootpack follows the ridge up toward the ice fall where the glaciers meet. There is a section of pretty gnarly rock fall - hitting this area fast & early is ideal. We didn't see much falling on the way up as it was still chilly, but on the way back we saw a couple of mini fridge-sized chunks come down. No thank you! A couple of step-over crevasses here right now - nothing major, but I expect this section will open up soon.  

There's a decent spot for a break right at the ice fall. Snow bridge is currently holding so you can get up onto the Cool glacier without too much hassle. There are then two options through the crevasses - we opted to go right. You can wind your way through with stepovers; the existing bootpack is easy to navigate. Another climber told us the left path requires some crevasse jumping, but I can neither confirm nor deny this claim. Our route felt pretty reasonable this weekend. I'd guess it'll open up pretty significantly and present a lot more challenge in the next couple of weeks. Once you're through the initial crevasse zone, it's a pretty straightforward hike up to the ridge. We dropped our rope & glacier gear here and did the final ~1000 feet up the loosey goosey chossy scree. Full summit push took ~4.5 hours, but we were certainly not the fastest party up there (there were maybe 4-5 other groups visible on the summit route with us; not too crowded at all). Still wary of the weather, we didn't stay long after self-care and signing the register. Headed down, packed up camp, and continued on - all the same stuff, just in reverse order. Even broken up into two days, that trek out feels loooooong!

Obligatory note: PACK IT OUT! Toilet paper takes up to 3 years to decompose. Don't leave it there. We also saw a couple of blue bags abandoned in the rocks. When you're entering an alpine environment, you're taking on the responsibility of packing out your waste (and your little dog's, too!). These are fragile environments - respect them. And stay on trail.