Home > Trip Reports > May 30-31, 2009, Baker, Boulder/Park Cleaver etc.

May 30-31, 2009, Baker, Boulder/Park Cleaver etc.

5/30/09
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
3460
10
Posted by Robyn on 6/4/09 6:09am
Since nobody else in my group seems to have time to write a TR here--they're wallowing in the last weeks of school and finals--and I'm supposed to be all smart and edumacated after graduation from college in May ;D...heh heh I guess I'll tackle this one. After all, such a joyful grin-inducing weekend should certainly be shared with others!  :D
Myself and Spencerhutch were originally pondering the Squak/Easton route, but after reading about the Boulder Glacier trip, that sounded much more appealing with the lack of snowmobiles and all. So on Friday night I rode the train up to Bellingham to stay with my other skiing partner Nikki, who had managed to rent some gear from the Western outdoor center after losing a touring ski this winter, and would be coming along as well. On a whim, Nikki called her friend Eric to see what he was up to, and then there were four of us in the mix.
We had a leisurely 9am departure from Bellingham after driving every which way to collect Eric and a few remaining pieces of gear. Driving up to the trailhead took around 1 1/2 hours, and we were on the trail by 11:30. Continuous snow was not until a couple miles up the trail, but we kept hiking on the firm snow until the trees thinned out and skinning would be easier. The ridge we needed to gain was easy to locate, and when we got to the top, it was only a matter of staying on it all the way up to the glacier. Simple enough, aside from the minor detour to scramble around a cliff in ski boots

Cliff avoidance

The first flat place we reached as a possible camping site was filled with a group doing some crevasse rescue training. We stopped for a break there, but kept skinning for at least another 1000 vf before finally coming to an acceptable spot to stop for the night.
At this point, we discovered that nobody had a watch or alarm clock of any sort...oops! Figuring that we were on the east side of the mountain and would be hit by the first rays of sun in the morning, and were camping at around 7000' for a good head start, we just might have been able to catch the good corn had anyone been able to actually get out of bed at that time. As it was, we started a while after the two other parties had passed our camp, probably closer to 8. :-
On the plus side, the snow was soft enough to skin almost the entire way up, except for a couple of steeper sections. The glacier travel went smoothly, with any gaping holes or moats easily avoided, and few of those at that. We summited sometime between 11:30 and noon, and only spent enough time on that windy, icy mound to consume some snacks and take a couple of quick photos.

My experimental summit shot

The snow was great for the first 1500' or so but started turning to mush below that. After reaching camp and packing up it was even more so; skiing with a full pack in the slop made things rather entertaining for the rest of the way down.

Spencer rides away from camp

The ridge traverse on the way out was so sticky we could even climb gentle inclines without skins. Back around the cliff without major incident, then the tree skiing lower down was ridiculous in the most silly way over and around suncups, branches, pollen, small logs, vicious small rodents etc. At least it beat walking down by a long shot. Spencer ended up hiking the last bit down to the creek, while the three skiers stubbornly kept skis on feet all the way until we had no choice but to put them on our packs and switch to shoes.
We reached the car around 4:30, and shortly thereafter decided to go check out some nearby hot springs (Baker I believe). This made a nice, relaxing end to an awesome trip; I would highly recommend both the climbing route and the hot springs to anyone looking for a fun trip on Mt. Baker!

More photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/theRobynator/Baker09?authkey=Gv1sRgCIr6jcyMoOKXQw#
Nice TR..looks like some good terrain and NO SNOWMOSSSSSSS!!  So, if I was coming from Bend or to ski that route, what highways would you suggest to take  once in Wa?  And fs road #'s and name of trail head etc..  Any info super helpful please...  How is the weather up your way.  Huge thunderstorm and rains all week here in Bend, Or.  Suppose to settle down a 'tad'...fingers crossed...

Rich

Park Headwall to Boulder-Park Cleaver has always been my favorite Baker route.  From Oregon: I5 => Hwy 20 east "North Cascades Highway" (well-signed exit in Burlington or Mt Vernon) => Left on Baker Lake Road (after Sedro Woolley, just before Concrete), Left after the bridge over Boulder Creek, which I believe has a sign, then stay left on the dirt road.

It seems to me that the last two "Boulder Glacier" trip reports in the past couple weeks have actually been on Boulder/Park Cleaver (I could be wrong, but the pictures links look like it). The cleaver is a safer route from typical hazards (including Lahar's!!!) and it should be noted...PS- snowmobiling will be closed for the year from Schreiber's Meadow on Friday.

Thanks for the excellent beta!!!  Now I just need a solid weather forecast to cut down on the chances of being skunked :) ???

author=TobyT link=topic=13550.msg56536#msg56536 date=1244158615]
It seems to me that the last two "Boulder Glacier" trip reports in the past couple weeks have actually been on Boulder/Park Cleaver (I could be wrong, but the pictures links look like it). The cleaver is a safer route from typical hazards (including Lahar's!!!) and it should be noted...PS- snowmobiling will be closed for the year from Schreiber's Meadow on Friday.


Yeah, I suspected we were on a cleaver rather than on the glacier, but it was probably the safer option. Good skiing too.

author=TobyT link=topic=13550.msg56536#msg56536 date=1244158615]
It seems to me that the last two "Boulder Glacier" trip reports in the past couple weeks have actually been on Boulder/Park Cleaver


Fred calls it the "Boulder Glacier" route...and after the cleaver the route is on the boulder glacier.  "The simplest route is to ascent the Boulder-Park cleaver...."

Hmmmm....does this mean I've never climbed the emmons glacier since I've never started from the terminus?

One is more descriptive than the other and you spent 3/4 of the ascent on the cleaver. So, cleaver it is. Boulder Glacier route has more hazards, as stated above, especially the Lahar flows that happen more frequently than people may think. Boulder Glaicer is fairly unique in this regard and should be respected. When gaining the top of the cleaver, one could head onto the Boulder Glacier or the Park Glacier to summit. The Emmons comment I shall dismiss... PS- nice name dropping!

author=androolus link=topic=13550.msg56556#msg56556 date=1244210584]
the terminus?


Also called the snout.  :D

author=Stugie link=topic=13550.msg56569#msg56569 date=1244234029]
Also called the snout.   :D


Or the toe :)

More good info...I'll check Becky's bible with all that in mind....

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may-30-31-2009-baker-boulder-park-cleaver-etc
Robyn
2009-06-04 13:09:38