Mountaineering - 2005

Day 6:    Mt.Baker Summit Climb and Descent - Head Home

We actually did our summit attempt on the 5th day since we anticipated a beautiful weather day for a summit attempt. We did the early alpine start (1:30am), geared up and hiked to the glacier.  There, we roped up and started the long ascent up the glacier.  The gradual glacier snow slopes gave way to increasing steepness and crevasses.   Early going was fairly okay due to the cold temps freezing the surface overnight.

But as the sun came up, the rays started to melt the surface and below surface, making the going tougher and causing us to sink through the surface with each step.   We made it to a stopping point - an overlook into the Sherman Glacier - before tackling the final ascent - the Roman Headwall..

The final ascent was on the Roman Headwall, a massive steep section of snow.  The lead rope team did an awesome job of post-holing all the way to the top.  Once at the top, it's a hike across Mt.Baker's ice-covered crater to a summit point.  The wind was fairly strong on the summit, so we took our pics and headed home.  It's a long way up, and a LONG way down.