June 29, 2005, Squak Glacier, Mount Baker
6/29/05
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2762
0
The early bird didn't get the Squak worm today on the south side of Mount Baker. We were basically in fog the entire way up, then broke into a clear zone around Baker's summit at around 8000 feet on the Squak. As we skied down, we somehow managed to always be in a clear area even though clouds were still moving across the slopes.
Kevin, Vince and I left the car at the Scott Paul trailhead at about 9:00. Very nice trail, a little muddy here and there, with cool and misty conditions. At the 4600 foot saddle we got onto the way trail which led us back up to the ridge and the first significant snow. We hiked to 5400 feet and took a break in the fog to consider our options. None of us had been on this route before, so it was difficult to know how to proceed with the low visibility. During our break, however, the clouds briefly parted and we got a glimpse upward to the lower Squak Glacier and Sherman Peak. We then skinned up continuous, though runneled and cupped, snow along the east side of Crag View and to the flats just above it. There we took a longer break, with naps, hoping that the clouds would back off and let us see the route up the Squak. That never happened, but at 3:00 we decided to skin up the fall line, figuring that we could just follow our tracks back down if it stayed foggy.
The snow on the Squak was smooth and corned, and we were eager to get more turns on it so we just kept skinning up through the fog. Vince and I skinned up parallel to each other, 10 to 20 yards apart, outlining a safe corridor for turning on the descent. We saw several small crevasse openings to climbers right of our route, but came across nothing threatening. At around 8000 feet we broke into the clear zone around Baker's summit. The clouds were looming dark to the west and blowing by toward the east just below us, but we now had blue sky and sunshine. Between 8000 feet and 8400 feet, where we stopped, a layer of newer snow appeared, in some places up to 12 inches deep by pole probing.
We hung out at our high point for a little while, trying to decide if we should go higher, but it was getting late (5:00) so we started down. The skiing down to Crag View was great! The new snow layer, having not baked in the sun all day, was fast and fun, and below that was just plain good corn. Our halo of good visibility followed us down, even though there were still clouds and fog around, so we didn't have to be quite so slow and cautious. It was interesting to keep getting new views on the way down - seracs, lower Squak, Baker Lake - which we could only imagine on the way up. Below Crag View areas of runnels and suncups made the skiing less than perfect, but skiing was still much better than walking. A couple of heather traverses let us keep skiing down to about 5100 feet, right where the way trail drops off the ridge.
Kevin, Vince and I left the car at the Scott Paul trailhead at about 9:00. Very nice trail, a little muddy here and there, with cool and misty conditions. At the 4600 foot saddle we got onto the way trail which led us back up to the ridge and the first significant snow. We hiked to 5400 feet and took a break in the fog to consider our options. None of us had been on this route before, so it was difficult to know how to proceed with the low visibility. During our break, however, the clouds briefly parted and we got a glimpse upward to the lower Squak Glacier and Sherman Peak. We then skinned up continuous, though runneled and cupped, snow along the east side of Crag View and to the flats just above it. There we took a longer break, with naps, hoping that the clouds would back off and let us see the route up the Squak. That never happened, but at 3:00 we decided to skin up the fall line, figuring that we could just follow our tracks back down if it stayed foggy.
The snow on the Squak was smooth and corned, and we were eager to get more turns on it so we just kept skinning up through the fog. Vince and I skinned up parallel to each other, 10 to 20 yards apart, outlining a safe corridor for turning on the descent. We saw several small crevasse openings to climbers right of our route, but came across nothing threatening. At around 8000 feet we broke into the clear zone around Baker's summit. The clouds were looming dark to the west and blowing by toward the east just below us, but we now had blue sky and sunshine. Between 8000 feet and 8400 feet, where we stopped, a layer of newer snow appeared, in some places up to 12 inches deep by pole probing.
We hung out at our high point for a little while, trying to decide if we should go higher, but it was getting late (5:00) so we started down. The skiing down to Crag View was great! The new snow layer, having not baked in the sun all day, was fast and fun, and below that was just plain good corn. Our halo of good visibility followed us down, even though there were still clouds and fog around, so we didn't have to be quite so slow and cautious. It was interesting to keep getting new views on the way down - seracs, lower Squak, Baker Lake - which we could only imagine on the way up. Below Crag View areas of runnels and suncups made the skiing less than perfect, but skiing was still much better than walking. A couple of heather traverses let us keep skiing down to about 5100 feet, right where the way trail drops off the ridge.
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