Nature's Playgrounds: Mt. Baker

The final climb of the Bushwackers Glacier Course is always an attempt of Mt. Baker with a day of crevasse rescue on the Squak Glacier. Team One had a successful summit and great stories to share, but as Team Two prepared to set out, the forecast was looking a little grim. Despite 50% chance of showers, we were in good spirits as we met up bright and early at the Seddro-Wooley ranger station. We picked up our permits and headed to the Schrieber Meadows trailhead. We started on the trail for a brief section, but soon cut up the Metcalf Moraine navigating a few tricky stream crossings.

Lana picking her way across the creek

Said taking a turn

We made our way, slow but steady, onto the snow. We had brief views of the summit, but ominous clouds were rolling in. In route we saw a strange mammal on the snow--definitely not a marmot. Our best guess: Wolverine. We took a brief break at some flowing water to refill our water bottles, then slogged on the final push to Cragview Rock to set up camp.

One of our fleeting summit views

Heading up the snowfield

Nearly to camp

Goodbye views

At camp, we watched a WAC group practice their crevasse rescue skills on the same crack where we were planning to use the next day. It had started to mist and we were thankful to be down at camp and not up on the glacier. Little did we know what the next day had in store for us. Knowing the weather wasn't looking great, we decided to play it by ear in the morning. We had the entire next day reserved for crevasse rescue practice.

It rain most of the night and we woke to thick clouds and more rain. We waited around a bit, but when it showed no sign of clearing we geared up, roped up and headed to the crevasse. It was eerie knowing we were right next to a big crack but not being able to see it until we were near the edge. We wanded out the area, set up extra protection and took turns lowering each other into the crevasse. For those who don't know, crevasse rescue isn't a super speedy process, especially when you're first learning. Cycling through eight people took quite some time. It also involves a lot of standing around and lying in the snow. After several hours of being rained on, we were all pretty dang cold. In fact, the warmest spot on the glacier was inside the crevasse. I was the last one to finally get lowered down. It was a little unnerving taking the first step into the abyss, but it was pretty amazing to hang out down there.

I'm in a crevasse!

Wall of ice

Such a cool place

It was a wide crack

Just hanging out

The only thing connecting me to my team

Towards the end of the our practice the rain briefly stopped and the wind began howling. It was still super cold, but thanks to the wind we were almost dry. But that only lasted a minute. We thought we were going to make it back to camp dry, but with about 10 minutes left on our hike, it began to pour. Thank goodness we brought a kitchen tent to hang out in that afternoon/evening. Otherwise, I think we may have all gone a little stir crazy in our tents.

Making dinner

Soaked but in good spirits

By this time, we had all pretty much given up on a summit bid the next morning. Although, there was about 15 minutes where the clouds parted at 1:00 am, but it was short lived. We spent the next morning eating as much of our extra days worth of food as possible and waiting for a brief break in the rain. Luckily, we got our moment. For almost an hour, it didn't rain and we were able to pack up our camp in peace. The sun even shown ever so slightly. The mood at camp skyrocketed and we were loving being able to be out of our tents and not get wet. On the way back down our rain came back. We were all pretty ready to be warm and dry and drinking a beer and hustled to the cars as best we could. The trip definitely had its rough moments, but it was a great group of folks that knew how to make the best out of a difficult situation and I'm really thankful for that.