High Fire Risk on National Forest
Unusually dry conditions have increased fire danger on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The risk is much higher now than is typical for this time of the year, and with the July 4th weekend approaching, please be careful with fire on the forest. Fireworks are prohibited on National Forest lands.
--A couple weeks ago we finally got a team into the North Side of Mount Baker. The Coleman-Deming Route is in great shape and the North Ridge looks to be in good shape as well with a snow-bridge still available to access the "Hourglass" approach gully. The Glacier Creek road is closed at about mile 2.5 and will not reopen until the Fall. It took our team approximately six hours to get into the North Side with large packs and about four hours to get back to the car at the end of the trip.
"A tree has dislodged itself from the crack and fallen over the third pitch of Peasant's route on the Chief. The tree lies right across the climbing line between the two bolts on the pitch just above the crux. There is no way around it, but with some force you can bushwack your way through it.
I recommend bringing a small folding saw with you up there. Unless you are prepared to clean a little don't try to pull it out of the crack because you will send mud and debris down the pitch below it."
-Conny Amelunxen, Canadian Mountain Guide
-Click here for current falcon closures on the Grand Wall
Just had my first trip of the season up to the Bugs and things are looking good. It is definitely still a bit early but there is already lots to do.
Road
The road is in descent shape and ok for a small car with a bit of navigating through ruts around KM 34. I was in a Toyota Matrix and had no problems.
Trail
The trail to the Kain hut is mostly snow free but there are a couple of significant piles of avalanche debris and a few fallen trees to negotiate along the way.
Travel Conditions
Generally, things seem a little ahead of usual. There is still lots of snow above the hut but the moraines are melting out fast. Travel on the lower elevation snow is good in the morning (with a good freeze) and becomes a bit of a slog in the PM when things warm up. Up high (above ~2800m) you can still expect up to knee deep foot penetration through a breakable crust but
this would only affect the last bit of glacier to the West Ridge of Pigeon Spire. The Bugaboo-Snowpatch col is in good shape right now but there is already lots of loose rock melted out on the sides.
Routes
Most of the regular stuff is climbable with a few snow patches remaining. The low elevation routes in the Crescent area look dry as do many of the routes on the west face of Snowpatch. There will inevitably be some wet sections on most routes but they are shrinking by the day. The higher shady routes like the NE Ridge of Bugaboo and the Becky-Chouinard will likely have snow and ice in them for a little while yet.
Bears
There is a sow grizzly with two, one year old cubs hanging around Bugaboo Creek these days but there was no recent evidence of their presence on the trail.
South Howser Descent
A new descent has been established from the South Howser Tower that avoids the cornice, loose rock and rope eating flakes of the existing descent. It roughly follows the North Face-Ridge route towards the Central Howser. Stop in at the hut to see a detailed topo.
Cheers,
Marc Pich?
ACMG, IFMGA
Mountain Guide
--For information regarding wall closures due to falcon nesting in Yosemite National Park, click here.
Archived Photo by Coley Gentzel
--The snow is melting very fast in the Alaska Range this year. This is in part due to the ash on the glaciers from the Redoubt volcano. All of the major landing strips are melting out. Strips on the Kahiltna, the Ruth and on the Pika are all in poor shape. Access to the range will be limited in the very near future.
