Mount Baker/Coleman Glacier

Saturday June 27-Sun June 28, 2015
A very hot weekend. Snow is melted out up to the 6000' camp area, but there is lots of stream water available. The glacier has several slightly sketchy snow bridges in the lower stretch, but still easily navigated. The bergschrund had just had a large snow bridge fall right before we arrived--the boot trail was still visible on the chunk wedged 20' down in the chasm--quite impressive! Nevertheless, the bergschrund can still be navigated by cutting climbers left. The icefall below Black Buttes is also quite impressive. Climb early and move through quickly! The snow was mushy but in decent shape considering how warm it was even at night. We climbed starting at 10:30 pm from the 6000' camp and arrived on the summit just in time for sunrise. This proved wise since the glacier was baking hot on the descent, even early in the morning; I can't imagine how brutal it would have been to climb it later in the day. Camp to camp 10 hrs. A beautiful climb!