August 13, 2013

Mt. Vernon, Washington

Dear Family & Friends:

We summitted Mt. Baker yesterday.  What a day!

Mt. Baker is 10,785 feet and is guarded by hundreds of crevasses.  The crevasses I saw rival those on Mt. Everest.

We moved up to Mt Baker high camp on August 11, carrying heavy packs in a vertical gain of 2,500 feet.  At 4:30 am on August 12, we started for the summit in the dark.  The climb was made more difficult by all the crevasses which makes for a long and circuitous route.  We reached the summit at noon in heavy winds. The altitude gain was 5,000 feet.  After taking some photos and shooting some video, we started back down to high camp. We arrived at high camp at 4 pm. After having a light meal of pasta, we broke camp, strapped on the heavy packs and started down the mountain to the parking lot at 5:30 pm.  We were in the car at 8 pm.  My tired old body was (and still is) exhausted.

Today is a much needed rest day.  We will pick up some food and gear and stay in Ashford near the entrance to Mt Rainier National Park. Tomorrow around 10 or 11 am, we will strap on those packs and move up to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier. The rest of the trip is described in my previous post.  The weather report is sketchy for the next few days, so we will be watching that closely.

We are all doing well, feeling good and having fun.

Bill

Mt. Baker

Uncle Stewart & Niece Noelle

Twin Crevasses

Summit Approach

Crevasse Travel

On the Summit