August 6-7, 2011, Mt. Baker (via Roman Wall)
8/6/11
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
3830
3
Dave, Keith, Martin, and myself decided it was about time to get to the top of that lovely volcano that stares at us while in Vancouver. We drove to the Heliotrope parking lot on Saturday morning and started our hike up around 1pm. We crossed many people coming down; a couple that made summit but most that weren't trying or fell shy. Once reaching Heliotrope, we were treated to gorgeous blue skies and magnificent wild flowers. We reached our camp below the Black Buttes at about 4:30pm and set up a nice couch in the snow to enjoy the fantastic sea of clouds below us, stars, and Vancouver's fireworks at 10pm.
We woke up around 4am and were out of camp around 4:45. There were lots of other parties heading up, although we were the only skiers. We skinned all the way to the Easton ridge, although some of the sections were a little sketchy still being ice-solid sun cups. Crevasses really aren't that bad.. easily navigable. We switched over to crampons and walked up to the bottom of the Roman Wall for around 9am or so. We soon realized that we were way too early, as it was going to be a while for the corn snow to surface. We sat there for a couple hours cheering the on-coming parties, as we were told it was quite gusty on top.
We decided it was time to head up at about 11am and after about 45 minutes on the wall, we were there! If you haven't been up, I highly suggest it.. absolutely stunning views. Clear skies to Glacier Peak and Rainier, with clouds in the valley and only the highest Cascade peaks popping up. Very pretty site!
Skiing down was the best summer skiing so far.. perfect corn down the wall and almost all the way back to our camp. Heliotrope was full of sun cups but you could find some smaller ones to shred over. We even found a chute that lead us all the way to tree line.. unbelievable for this time of year! We were back at the car about an hour later (~2 hours from summit, plus the stop to pack up base camp). Great fun..
We woke up around 4am and were out of camp around 4:45. There were lots of other parties heading up, although we were the only skiers. We skinned all the way to the Easton ridge, although some of the sections were a little sketchy still being ice-solid sun cups. Crevasses really aren't that bad.. easily navigable. We switched over to crampons and walked up to the bottom of the Roman Wall for around 9am or so. We soon realized that we were way too early, as it was going to be a while for the corn snow to surface. We sat there for a couple hours cheering the on-coming parties, as we were told it was quite gusty on top.
We decided it was time to head up at about 11am and after about 45 minutes on the wall, we were there! If you haven't been up, I highly suggest it.. absolutely stunning views. Clear skies to Glacier Peak and Rainier, with clouds in the valley and only the highest Cascade peaks popping up. Very pretty site!
Skiing down was the best summer skiing so far.. perfect corn down the wall and almost all the way back to our camp. Heliotrope was full of sun cups but you could find some smaller ones to shred over. We even found a chute that lead us all the way to tree line.. unbelievable for this time of year! We were back at the car about an hour later (~2 hours from summit, plus the stop to pack up base camp). Great fun..
Good ascent and pix. What is that fuzzy white thing behind those beautiful flowers? :)
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I know eh? Got in the way of a nice flower picture! :p
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