Forum Index > Trip Reports > Mount Blum ~ 3/15/20
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Fletcher
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Fletcher
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 12:16 pm 
A party of 8 nwhikers summited Mount Blum yesterday. We had been talking about a winter ascent of Blum for sometime. So stoked we finally made it happen! At 3:30 am on Sunday, Selena, Dave, Eric, Reed, JakeA, JakeR, Kyle, and I were setting out down the Baker River Trail. A few minutes later, we took a right at the bridge, and 100 yards later we entered the woods. We really nailed the route finding lower down on the route and were able to find the Blum Lakes climbers trail with ease. We ascended the climbers trail by headlamp, all stoked for the day ahead! Around 2800 ft, we put our snowshoes on and made great time up the steep ridge to 4800 ft, where we traversed to Blum Lakes. What a frigid and beautiful morning in the North Cascades.
finally light out and almost to Blum Lakes, first Blum sighting
finally light out and almost to Blum Lakes, first Blum sighting
Hagan Mountain
Hagan Mountain
Jake R crossing Lower Blum Lake
Jake R crossing Lower Blum Lake
We took a short snack break at Middle Blum Lake, but quickly got going again just because of the cold. We were all looking forward to finally getting into the sun. We ascended a nice gully from Middle to Upper Blum Lake then ascended more moderately steep slopes and had some route decisions to make.
Baker coming into view
Baker coming into view
one more
one more
getting closer
getting closer
happy peakbaggers
happy peakbaggers
Initially, we thought it might be cool to climb Cocaine Couloir, which would grant efficient access to the summit area, but we decided that it looked too steep to make sense.
Cocaine Coulior and Blum summit
Cocaine Coulior and Blum summit
To gain Blum's gentle south ridge, we had to find a route to get above a steep headwall above Upper Blum Lake. We tried a few different options, but turned around because of bullet ice or sketchy terrain with bad runout. Third try was a charm and we found a nice route with good steep snow and a few fun icy class 3+ moves that gave way to easy terrain that continued to the summit.
first view of the Pickets.
first view of the Pickets.
getting close
getting close
climbers coming up Blum
climbers coming up Blum
almost there
almost there
We all topped out around 12:45. The cornice up there warned caution and the wind made for a frigid summit stay. We hung out for a few minutes before descending a couple hundred feet for lunch.
Blum summitshot
Blum summitshot
Baker and Shuksan
Baker and Shuksan
North Cascades and the Blum summit cornice
North Cascades and the Blum summit cornice
looking towards Glacier
looking towards Glacier
We had a long descent ahead, and reluctantly began our drop off the upper mountain. The steep step took some face-in downclimbing, then we had some plunge stepping and glissading down to the middle lake where we re-donned snowshoes.
the steep step
the steep step
climbers coming down the step
climbers coming down the step
cool peak
cool peak
I had a ferry to catch back to the San Juans, so after a quick break, Kyle, Eric and I took off to begin the descent. A couple hours of sloppy descent later, we were back at the Baker River. Everyone else was back at the car within an hour later.
sloppy descent
sloppy descent
Awesome to have Blum in the bag. A nice last peak to get before the apocalypse dizzy.gif ~10.5 miles ~7800 ft of gain

Now I Fly
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iron
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iron
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 12:21 pm 
good stuff. biggest cornices i've ever seen were on blum (>50ft wide).

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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 12:31 pm 
What a great day to be in the North cascades! Fun trip with a strong group, I'll add some pics later. Ps much thanks to kyle for finding a nice way up though the rocks and snow!

Eric Eames
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Jake Robinson
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Jake Robinson
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 12:43 pm 
Blum in the morning
Blum in the morning
Happy to be in the North Cascades!
Happy to be in the North Cascades!
Cocaine Couloir was a no-go today
Cocaine Couloir was a no-go today
Baker and Shuksan
Baker and Shuksan
The crux
The crux
Selena hiking up Blum's south ridge
Selena hiking up Blum's south ridge
Hagan Mountain
Hagan Mountain
Flether and Jake nearing the summit
Flether and Jake nearing the summit
Team coming up in the wind
Team coming up in the wind
Just below the summit
Just below the summit
Eric giving the summit cornice a lot of room
Eric giving the summit cornice a lot of room
Eric departing the summit, framed between the Northern and Southern Pickets
Eric departing the summit, framed between the Northern and Southern Pickets
Heading down
Heading down
Hiking down the south ridge
Hiking down the south ridge
The south ridge
The south ridge
Jake downclimbing the step
Jake downclimbing the step
Jake and Baker
Jake and Baker
Back at lower Blum Lake
Back at lower Blum Lake
The terrible snow transition section of the Blum Lakes "trail"
The terrible snow transition section of the Blum Lakes "trail"
Downclimbing the trail
Downclimbing the trail
Done.
Done.

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Nancyann
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Nancyann
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 1:17 pm 
Looks like a very fine collection of nwhikers out enjoying life to the fullest. up.gif

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Tom
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Tom
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 1:18 pm 
up.gif up.gif

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reststep
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reststep
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 1:24 pm 
Thanks for the report and pictures. Looks like you picked a great day to be up there.

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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RichP
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RichP
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 1:25 pm 
Good to see more trip reports in these difficult (and crazy) times.

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kitya
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kitya
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 3:03 pm 
Fletcher wrote:
climbers coming down the step
climbers coming down the step
Wow! This looks crazy steep, so scary!!! You rock

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Stefan
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Stefan
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 3:14 pm 
beautiful!!

Art is an adventure.
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cascadetraverser
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cascadetraverser
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 5:38 pm 
Wow....Well done!

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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 6:11 pm 
Here's my favorite pics from the trip
finally, some North Cascade sun
finally, some North Cascade sun
snow plastered upper lake headwall
snow plastered upper lake headwall
mountain views
mountain views
Northern Picketts
Northern Picketts
view S over towards Bacon
view S over towards Bacon
the crew heading up the ridge
the crew heading up the ridge
more peaks to see
more peaks to see
Hagan sub pks from the lower lake
Hagan sub pks from the lower lake

Eric Eames

Now I Fly
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reststep
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reststep
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 6:20 pm 
raising3hikers wrote:
snow plastered upper lake headwall
snow plastered upper lake headwall
It is amazing that the snow stays on a headwall like that. Did you see any kind of avalanche activity at all?

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
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raising3hikers
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raising3hikers
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 6:24 pm 
reststep wrote:
It is amazing that the snow stays on a headwall like that. Did you see any kind of avalanche activity at all?
we didn't see any signs of recent avalanche activity, we were a little concerned about possible winds slabs but that wasn't an issue either.

Eric Eames
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Tom
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Tom
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PostMon Mar 16, 2020 7:06 pm 
Just love the scenery up there, so photogenic. I asked my wife what she saw in this one. I though she would spot the sleeping giant's head to the right. She said, yes, the horse in the middle. ha.gif
raising3hikers wrote:
mountain views
mountain views
Really love the backdrop in this one. I'd say calendar worthy, alas the horizon is tilted but still quite breathtaking. up.gif
raising3hikers wrote:
the crew heading up the ridge
the crew heading up the ridge

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