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June 9, 2015, Glacier Peak

6/9/15
WA Cascades West Slopes Central
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Posted by arb on 6/11/15 4:31pm
I've been wanting to get into Glacier Peak since I first saw it from the top of Cowboy Mountain last season, but I never seemed to be able to align weather, partners, and work commitments for an attempt.  I finally just gave up and decided to take a day off this week and make the most of the stable weather.  In classic style I arrived at the NF Sauk trail head at 1 am on Tuesday, slept for a few hours, then got up to make coffee, pack my bag, and scrape the wax off my skis in time for an almost-alpine start at 6 am.  The trail was in good shape and snow free until I crossed the shoulder at White Pass, from that point on the climber's trail traversed numerous small snow fields.  I stuck on the trail for about another 1/2 mile until an especially promising snow field tempted me out of my running shoes and into ski boots.  From that point on I was able to stay on snow for the rest of the route except for a very brief walk along the lower edge of disappointment cleaver. Overall the snowy portion of the route was in really good shape considering our winter and the warm weather.  There wasn't that much rock fall below disappointment peak, and the brief glacier section was well covered.  I only needed  to carry my skis for about 10' after exiting the Cool glacier and was then able to link snow all the way to the summit.  The descent from the summit back to the Cool Glacier was surprisingly great - despite the warm weather the snow was supportive and smooth.   The rest of the descent consisted of pleasant turns on low angle terrain and a little mellow skinning on traversing climbs.     The hike/run back out was uneventful and I was back at the car before dark.  All in the trip was less technical and more beautiful than I expected, and I would highly recommend GP to anyone else who hasn't gotten around to making the trip.

A few conditions notes:
- There are enough mosquitoes at the trail head to warrant a tent for any bivy longer than 4 hours.
- I brought crampons, an ice axe, a whippet, and a second pair of skins - I wouldn't bother bringing any of this stuff in these conditions.
- Marmots ate my liner socks, scattered and chewed my running shoes, and absconded with one of my gaiters while I was "away".  Apparently I should have brought a pet fox instead of my technical mountaineering gear. 
- The snow field I took up and over the north ridge of White Mountain appears to be the current best option for skiers, PM me if you would like coordinates or a kmz of my track.
-Route pics below, I apologize if there is a more efficient way to post non-hosted pics that I am missing




More photos. 

Back before dark...
Did you do this as a day trip!?
wow.

Photos of the Cool Glacier.  After crossing onto the Cool I moved to the left off the boot pack back onto the ridge of disappointment peak in an attempt to minimize my time on the glacier.  There was still lots of snow on the ridge and it should ski nicely for a while.

Yes, I did it as a day trip, but I was using full skimo race gear, which has changed the game for me (and everyone else that I know who uses it).  5 years ago this would have been a soul-rending epic death slog for me, using skimo gear and techniques I was able to enjoy the day without killing myself.  That said, I was pretty excited to eat solid food and sit down when I got back to the car!

Screen captures of my route to glacier pass, on the last photo I drew a red line where I should have gone, this looked a lot faster than the route I took and should have snow for a little while.

Apparently liner socks are good marmot bait. 

Very Nice.

Don't ever underestimate the little buggers...

Hell Yeah! Way to broaden the definition of "day trip!" I essentially did the same thing about a year ago, and the marmots got into my stash too. My water bottle was toast, my trail runners were a little torn but still usable, and they did this to my steri pen. Apparently there's untapped nutritional potential in plastic and lithium ion batteries.

Those rascals. I gave them a taste of the shoe salts two summers ago. They devoured a couple socks and started in on the trail runners while I was away at the summit.

author=arb link=topic=34358.msg141790#msg141790 date=1434094283]

- Marmots ate my liner socks, scattered and chewed my running shoes, and absconded with one of my gaiters while I was "away".  Apparently I should have brought a pet fox instead of my technical mountaineering gear. 



Totally feel you there. We got back to the car after a long two-day attempt (stopped 800' short of the summit by the only clouds in all of Washington state that day) and discovered a mouse had gotten into my bag and eaten holes in my skirt. Not wanting to stay in my stanky clothes for another minute I put it on anyway. I flashed everyone at dinner, but it was well worth it to be in clean(ish) clothes!

I wonder if it will still be skiable on July4th...I suppose by then the whole section from the summit to disappointment may be barren pumice. I may need to bring a bear canister for my socks and shoes.

Good reminder to always look under the vehicle before driving down when in the Marmot Zone.  They will chew through brake lines as well.

I am curious, what would be the rational behind a second pair of skins? Any chance I can get your .gpx tracks?

The two pairs of skins thing is from skimo racing - because the skins only cover about 3/4 of your ski they don't have tail clips, so if the glue fails you are done.  During a skimo race most people carry two pairs of skins so they can keep the glue warm on one pair while they are using the other and alternate skins for each climb.  I brought two pairs because I was worried that the glue would wet out and stop sticking.  I would have needed both pairs if there were any big climbs on the return to the PCT, but all the climbs on the return trip were short and/or traversing so that the glue wasn't particularly stressed at the end of the day.

You should be able to download a kml of the route I used on snow from google docs using the link below, I hope it helps :)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6DPODsJkvvnV3RGUWItbmVBR2s&authuser=0

 

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