Basic Glacier Climb - Mount Baker/Easton Glacier

Trip Report

A successful climb for 9 of the Easton Glacier route of Koma Kulshan (Mt. Baker)! We arrived at the TH and started climbing at 1045a after carpooling from the Ash Way P&R. Parking lot was full but there were plenty of spots to park along the road (all snow free, but in typical FS road fashion, bumpy, unpaved and full of potholes. High-clearance vehicles not needed). Bathrooms opened and well-stocked. 

Park Butte Trail was relatively snow free until around 4400’. The river crossing was manageable by navigating carefully to find rocks suitable for hopping across, but with the warm weather and snow melt be prepared to get wet (we didn’t).

From there, we ascended the switchbacks and hit steady snow around 4600’, just when the clouds started rolling in. Arrived at the base of the Railroad Grade around 12:20p, the trail on the ridge was mostly snow-free.

There’s a great spot to filter water at Rocky Creek (around 5200’) directly below a well-established camp. Ascending from here, snow began in earnest.

Found a dry, flatish area at Sandy Camp to break for lunch at 5800’. There were plenty of spots to camp here on dry ground but it can get busy so prepare to camp on snow.

We continued ascending to our camp at 6800’. The trail continues steeply up a rocky ridge with some loose rocks and big steps. An alternative route would be to rope up and ascend the glacier from Sandy Camp, climber’s right of the rocky ridge (since we were camping high we decided to save the time required to rope up and ascend the glacier just to camp). We moved closely together, and sent the team up in groups of 3 to mitigate any injuries from potential rockfall.  From here, we were pretty socked in.

We then found a great spot to camp around 6800’ sheltered by a hill between the Deming and Easton Glaciers and set up camp on snow. Arrival time at camp was 15:15p (about 4.5 hours). There was a rocky section we used as our kitchen later on, but no accessible running water.

Early bed, with some breaks in the clouds to see our objective. Roped up and began climbing at 4:15a, crampons on. The glacier was in great shape, with a few small crevasses immediately out of camp and several more to cross closer to the saddle. There is a traverse immediately before the saddle parties should move quickly under, as there was active rock and ice fall throughout the day, crossing the bootpath and onto the glacier below.

Photo @ Rob Adams

Arrived at the saddle above the crater (9800’) at 7a (approximately 3h from camp) for a break before ascending the Roman Wall, where we came upon the curious sight of a person bivying next to the fumarole tucked in a sleeping bag in a small moat. Best guess he was left behind by his party. We also saw a huge party ascending the sharp ridgeline of Sherman Peak in the distance. 

The Roman Wall wasn’t as trafficked as it sometimes is, thinking it had to do with our timing, but there were still a few bottlenecks. However, every descending team we encountered immediately stepped off the boot track for ascending teams, which was wonderful to see. Conditions on the wall were packed snow covered in a layer of powder, so it got slippery in a few sections, but was mostly easily manageable. We brought 6 pickets for our team and didn’t place any. Hit the summit at about 8:45a after dropping our packs below (4.5h from high camp). Saw a few climbers finishing up the North Ridge route including some skiers. Hung out for a while, had an early lunch, and took in views extending from the Olympics into Canada. 

A successful summit for all 9 including 3 graduation climbs!

Photo @ Dennis Kiilerich

We began our descent around 10:15a, in much slushier snow given the warmth of the day, and ran into a few more parties coming up the Roman Wall. Got back to camp around 1230p to pack up and head down. Randomly, two of the climbers from the North Ridge had made it down to our camp (oops) when they meant to head down the Coleman-Demming glacier. We sent them back up with a map, some water, and a plan to get to the right place!

Headed out, with two teams choosing to descend the rock scramble, while my team hit the  lower glacier. There were a few easily navigable crevasses and it was a great alternative to the scramble!

Photo @ Alex Liu

It was sloppy snow on the return, and the trail down was mud/running water because of the snowmelt. River crossing at 16:15p was higher than on the way in but manageable (we didn’t get our feet too wet!). 

Photo @ Dennis Kiilerich

Made it to the TH at around 17:00p. All in all, a great day in the mountains with a fabulous and competent group!

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