Climbed glacier peak via the standard Disappointment Cleaver route this past Thursday-Sunday (summited on Saturday) with a group of 5 others.
Day 1 - trailhead to Mackinaw shelter on Thursday evening
Day 2 - Mackinaw shelter to just below glacier gap
Day 3 - camp to summit then on to White Pass for our final night
Day 4 - White Pass to trailhead
Some notes:
-Bugs were bad at the trailhead and hike in to Mackinaw shelter, but did not bother us too much at camp.
-Saw more marmots than I have ever seen before on the approach.
-Foam creek trail is easy to follow.
-Lake basins below White Chuck Glacier are melting out fast and snow is thin in places. Use caution not to posthole through snow and twist an ankle (or worse fall into flowing water underneath). Route is easy to follow though.
-Plenty of water wherever you camp
-Crevasses are beginning to appear on the Gerdine Glacier below Disappointment Peak - consider roping up before passing through here.
-Glacier peak has real glacier travel and crevasse rescue gear should be considered mandatory for a summer climb (use your own judgement earlier in the season). When we were descending the mountain, we were the last group coming down and therefor would have needed to perform a crevasse rescue independently if someone were to take a fall (i.e. don’t rely on other groups).
-We had 2 rope teams each on a 30 m rope, 2 pickets/rope team, everyone carried biners/prusiks/slings/pulley. The gear we brought felt appropriate given the route.
-Bugs were terrible on night 3 at White Pass.
Detailed trip report and more pictures at
https://ontherichterscale.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/glacier-peak/
Glacier Peak is such a grand mountain!
Your comments about bugs parallel what many others have said this summer, from trips all over the Cascades. We even have black flies in our woods down here near Bellingham!
Unfortunate that the smoke was still thick during your climb, as the views in the area are sublime. Reason to go back!
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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