August 3, 2014, Squak Glacier, Mount Baker

The last couple of years I have contented myself with skiing the €œdrive-in€ patches at Artist Point for August. This year I decided to stick with Mount Baker, but make a bit more of a €œreal€ tour on the Squak glacier. Leaving the trailhead at the leisurely hour of 0750 on another in our string of hot, sunny days my wife and I hiked the Scott Paul trail to the €œFirst View€ point at an easy pace, striving not to overheat (this was the main theme of the day). The first view, while gorgeous, was not exactly inspiring from a skiing point of view, with only a patch or two of snow in sight. However, as we ascended the climbers trail towards Crag View more snow patches appeared amongst the beautiful heather and wildflower gardens. After a good lunch break I started skinning up the Squak, with a welcome cooling breeze on the snow.  No ski or boot tracks were visible, so I skinned up the path of least resistance, giving a good berth to the obvious crevasses. I made my turnaround point on the lip of a massive crevasse at around 8,700 feet, out of time and motivation on this hot day. The ski down was surprisingly good, slightly sticky on 1-2 inch softened suncups .With one very short carry I skied down to 5,400 feet where I rejoined the climbers trail (and wife)! The hike out was a matter of steady pacing in the partially shaded but baking forest. A brief plunge in the freezing trail head stream returned core temperatures to normal and ended a stunningly beautiful day on the mountain. With about 5,300 feet of climb and 3,300 feet of skiing, the JOM score of 62% has to be hard to beat almost anywhere in August. If the current weather streak continues September looks like being a challenge!