Forum Index > Trip Reports > Glacier Peak 07-17-2021
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Mark Hadland
#thehad



Joined: 30 Jun 2018
Posts: 50 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Mark Hadland
#thehad
PostWed Aug 11, 2021 6:27 pm 
Glacier Peak awaits!
Glacier Peak awaits!
I had a last-minute opportunity to climb Glacier Peak with Jamie Wise from PNW Peak Baggers and my Sloan Peak group trip. On the Sloan Peak climb, Glacier Peak was prominent as we climbed the northern slopes and glacier on Sloan and it was a very inviting view, so much so that Jamie was inspired to organize an outing and due to some last-minute cancellations, I was afforded the opportunity to climb my final Washington Volcano and exercise my last remaining demon of unsummited peaks. Quick Stats per AllTrails: 35miles round trip, 11,229ft gain, 19 hours moving time, 24 hours total time plus our unplanned bivy. The backstory… Glacier Peak is a very significant mountain for me personally as it was the first mountain I ever attempted back in 1995. I recall shopping at the North Face on First Ave downtown Seattle when they actually sold real climbing gear – I was super excited for my first mountain climb complete with crampons, ice ax, rope, and a harness. I purchased this awesome blue Northface jacket and had some rocking yellow pants that made a swooshing sound when I walked, and red OR gaiters that I still use today! –
I thought I was the coolest looking mountaineer ever!
I thought I was the coolest looking mountaineer ever!
I purchased The Freedom of the Hills from the Mountaineers and read it thoroughly. I never took any climbing courses and did nothing to train or condition, figuring a young man in his mid-20’s was up for the effort. We attempted the Boulder Basin route via the Sitkum and Scimitar Glaciers accessed from the White Chuck River road which washed out in 2003. I recall a pleasant hike in and a visit to Kennedy Hot Springs and soon learned what a boot path was – a straight-up, faintly detectable route (no trail) up a series of steep dirt paths in the forest, and challenging rocks which I learned were called talus – soon past the tree line I began to develop severe cramps in my thighs – a pain so intense that I began to wonder what the hell I was doing. I struggled as we continued upwards and thought the stabbing pain in my quads would never end. Blessedly we made camp on a snowy ridge. I immediately crawled into my sleeping bag, assumed the fetal position, and shivered the night away. Needless to say, I was sore from all the cramping upon waking early in the AM and was not mentally in the mood to continue upwards. Given it was my former father-in-law who was leading this outing and did not want to widow his daughter, he agreed to call off the climb. I am very mindful of being a good climbing partner these days and never want to hold anyone back so I ensure I can climb, am sufficiently fit, can safely bivy, or find another route down. I never want to end someone’s climb prematurely due to poor preparation on my part and work hard to ensure that fitness never will play a role in my lack of future summits. The hike in… Jamie and I hit the trailhead about 9AM. It was a long drive from Seattle, to Darrington, the Mountain Loop Highway, and finally FS49. The bugs were out in full force, but fortunately, once we hit the trail, they were no longer present. The initial portion of the hike follows the North Fork of the Sauk River and is mostly flat. The river is beautiful and I enjoyed the sounds of the rushing, clear waters as they cascaded down many rocks and logs along the path. There are many old-growth trees here and also many large blowdowns, fortunately, unlike Sloan Peak, none of these blocked the path which is well maintained given it provided access to the PCT.
thehad and Jamie
thehad and Jamie
Trail
Trail
North Fork Sauk
North Fork Sauk
Well maintained trail in
Well maintained trail in
North Fork Sauk
North Fork Sauk
Trail along the river
Trail along the river
Trees and rocks
Trees and rocks
Bonsai
Bonsai
More Bonsai
More Bonsai
Cool trees growing out of the rocks
Cool trees growing out of the rocks
Red Creek Bridge crossing
Red Creek Bridge crossing
USGA Marker near the bridge
USGA Marker near the bridge
Red Creek bridge
Red Creek bridge
Red Creek
Red Creek
Funji on a log
Funji on a log
New hiking pal
New hiking pal
Switchbacks and Hike to White Pass and PCT Junction After 5 miles of fast, flat hiking, we encountered the dreaded switchbacks – there is a lot written about how hard and miserable these are, and while ascending the switchbacks, we encountered a hiker who said we were entering the suffer-fest. I think that given we hike a lot in the I90 corridor on hikes like Mailbox Peak and Teneriffe Kamikaze, and I recently did a few car 2 car summits, and both of us climbed Sloan Peak the prior weekend, that this was not so bad – a bit dusty and the heat was rising, but fortunately, much of it was in the shade. We still maintained a sub 30 min mile up the 2000+ feet and 3+ miles. Once through the switchbacks, we hit the long traverse to White Pass. This part of the trail was a small teaser of the alpine beauty yet to come. The hillside was carpeted in wildflowers and mountain heather and was absolutely stunning.
Views hiking up switchbacks
Views hiking up switchbacks
Tiger Lily
Tiger Lily
Fields of wildflowers
Fields of wildflowers
Jamie on the trail
Jamie on the trail
The views really open up and the trail is amazing beautiful once it levels out
The views really open up and the trail is amazing beautiful once it levels out
Green carpet
Green carpet
Approaching White Pass
Approaching White Pass
Trail guardian
Trail guardian
Lots of heather
Lots of heather
Amazing trail for miles
Amazing trail for miles
Approaching foam pass
Approaching foam pass
Disappointment Cleaver/Gerdine Ridge From White Pass, we connected with the Foam Creek trail that takes one to Foam Pass in two miles. The trail continues to traverse the hillside and only continued to get more beautiful with even more wildflowers. We encountered numerous marmots guarding their homes burrowed in the trail. As we ascended the steep slope up to Foam Pass, we were greeted with thick cloud cover. Another hiker said that this view is why people make this climb.
Foggy
Foggy
Tarn
Tarn
Althought the views were not great - it was a surreal landscape
Althought the views were not great - it was a surreal landscape
Millenium Falcon
Millenium Falcon
Unplanned Bivy at High Camp As we traversed the Disappointment Cleaver Gerdine Ridge trail, we made our way through a mix of rock, snowy bootpack, glacial melt, mucky glacial clay, and made our way to a high camp at about 7300 feet, where we planned to rest, eat, and commence a bid for the summit at midnight, in time to catch the sunrise, allow for a descent at a reasonable time, and a proper meal in Seattle the next evening. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating. The cloud cover was dense and the temperature was dropping into the 30’s. Colder and less visibility than forecasted. I did want to camp, and also was planning to keep my car 2 car streak of volcanic summits intact, so I only brought minimal emergency bivy gear. After eating a warm meal and my new goto mountain meal – a grilled NY steak, we agreed to bivy, wait a couple of hours to see if the clouds would dissipate per the forecast, and reassess the climbing situation. I wore all my layers, including my hat, gloves, a sleeping quilt which had no toe box and my feet froze – I advise always to bring a sleeping bag in the future for such situations as I shivered all night and was worried my feet were too cold to climb. We woke at midnight, 1 AM, 2 AM, and 4 AM – finally the clouds parted and the skies were clear. We finally rose at 5 AM, made some hot coffee, ate some Pop-Tarts, and packed for the climb!
Things were looking great!
Things were looking great!
The Glacier Climb We were not the first party up which was fortunate as we let them guide the path, navigating the snowfields, rock outcrop transitions, and eventually the path up through the crevasses. There was a 4 person rope party ahead of us, and a 2 party and soloist who we joined and leapfrogged through the climb.
The Summit We made our way up the glacier and onto the final summit ridge which was melted out. A 700 foot steep, slippery, and unstable path of pumice, gravel and soft volcanic sand led us to the summit!
26 years later I make the summit!
26 years later I make the summit!
The Climb Down After signing the summit register and taking a few photos, we opted to not loiter and descend quickly, given that the temperature was rising, and the threat of increased opening of the crevasses was ever-present and increasing by the hour. We had the good fortune of super weather on the descent and were able to take in all the natural beauty we missed hiking in the previous evening. As advertised, the views were stunning and it is truly an embarrassment of riches in the scenery. So much so that, many people do this climb only once as it is truly a long way in, but I think that a repeat visit, albeit maybe two nights so I can bring my Nikon Z6 and take hundreds of photos.
Sloan Peak
Sloan Peak
Cheers, thehad!
Cheers, thehad!

Exmoor, reststep, Mesahchie Mark, awilsondc, Tom, ozzy
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker



Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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zephyr
aka friendly hiker
PostWed Aug 11, 2021 8:59 pm 
Mark Hadland wrote:
Sloan Peak
Sloan Peak
Great composition and lighting. Such an awesome trip, though I am sure the bivvy was pretty miserable. It was good to hear the backstory of the original attempt to give it context. Looks like you had a strong partner. Both of you are so "We got this." wink.gif Congratulations to you and Jamie. ~z

Mark Hadland
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Brushbuffalo
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Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
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PostWed Aug 11, 2021 9:32 pm 
Jamie's might be recent but they look like old-school glacier goggles, which predate modern trendy aviator ' glacier glasses' .. it's the round lenses that do it! Just like 1950s Everesters! Good work on a big peak and long hike!

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still

Mark Hadland
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Brushbuffalo
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Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
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PostWed Aug 11, 2021 9:33 pm 
Mark Hadland wrote:
Jamie's might be recent but they look like old-school glacier goggles, which predate modern trendy aviator ' glacier glasses' .. it's the round lenses that do it! Just like 1950s Everesters! Good work on a big peak and long hike!

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still

Mark Hadland
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Mark Hadland
#thehad



Joined: 30 Jun 2018
Posts: 50 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Mark Hadland
#thehad
PostWed Aug 11, 2021 9:52 pm 
Old School!
Old School!

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babylero
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babylero
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PostThu Aug 12, 2021 1:28 pm 
Awesome trip. This is near the top of my list (got the other Volcanoes) but I probably wont have time till fall or next season.

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Navy salad
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Navy salad
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PostFri Aug 13, 2021 12:26 pm 
GREAT trip report and photos!!

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contour5
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contour5
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PostFri Aug 13, 2021 1:47 pm 
Spectacular! What a place! Congratulations on making The Summit.

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dave allyn
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dave allyn
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PostThu Aug 26, 2021 8:56 pm 
Are there reasonable bivy options around foam pass? Thanks

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SE Ben
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SE Ben
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PostSun Aug 29, 2021 9:44 am 
'Freedom of the Hills' -- sigh. Good memories. I met Cebe in 2010.

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Schroder
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Schroder
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PostSun Aug 29, 2021 2:01 pm 
Great photos! I'm a little surprised at the measured elevation gain since car to summit is 8000'. I've been up there many times and it didn't seem like I lost & gained back that much.

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