Baring Mountain 03/24/2014

 Baring Mountain on 03/24/2014

Here's a link to my video of the climb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6c9-8Yxr_cA

I was able to drive road 6024 up to about one mile away from the trailhead where snow on the roadway stopped me. I was hoping the bathroom would be open when I got to the trailhead but it was apparently locked for the off season so don't expect to have that amenity this early in the season.

It was easy to find the route up to the ridge since there were plenty of pink taped trees and there were already tracks for me to follow from a party that had apparently summited over the weekend. Unlike that party however, I did not have snow shoes. I started at first light and was hoping the snow would be firm but I was post holing up to the ridge once the trees opened up a bit and the snow got deeper. I had to abandon my trekking poles and resort to pawing my way up the top section of the initial slope on my hands and knees before reaching the ridge. Once on top of the ridge the snow was actually a bit firmer and icy in places so I threw on my crampons and continued following the trail that was laid out by the previous party.

I got to the cliff section and worked down the south side of the slope, traversing until I could ascend back through trees and a whole lot more exhausting loose snow. I was surprised by how far it was back up to the top of the ridge where you enter the basin.

I came out into the basin to find sunlight but also a pretty strong breeze blasting me with ice crystals. I took a break, threw on my shell and then started up to check out the gully. I was a little worried there might be avalanche danger in the gully since the weather was supposed to get up to about 65 degrees that day in Baring. I was happy to find that the gully was still very cold and it was actually covered by the shadow of the peaks the whole time I was up there. The snow here was like powder crystals and it wasn't until the top third of the gully that I actually got some decently hard snow to walk up on.

Again, be better prepared than me and BRING YOUR SNOWSHOES!

Looking up the gully from the edge of the basin on 03/24/2014

The view from the notch was pretty awesome and I now faced my next obstacle, the snow wall. The wall wasn't incredibly high but it was steep and as I was ascending it I found myself on a small nearly vertical step, maybe 8 feet worth, in the middle of the wall that was hard ice with only an inch or two of softer snow on top. This was a little tricky with just my walking axe but I was able to get past it and the grade lessened again. As soon as I was over the top I was dreading the fact that I would have to down climb that section on the return. This was the technical crux of the climb but the physical crux was probably the first half before the basin.

I continued up to the summit, passing one more 10ft section of nearly vertical snow along the way. The weather was beautiful and the view from the summit was pretty amazing. Cold and windy though and I felt a little lonely and isolated, dreading the down climbing of the steep section below before I could get back to the notch. After a break I carefully made my way down and had a big grin on my face after safely kicking my way down the snow wall.

Looking over the south summit to Mt. Rainier from the summit of the north tower

I tried to glissade down the gully but didn't have much luck because I would sink into that crystal powder snow most of the way. I made my way back following the same trail without any problems. Because of the poor snow conditions, and my lack of preparedness, it took me about 5 hours to reach the summit and about three more hours down.

This mountain earned its spot on the Washington's steepest list in my opinion but it was a great climb with very rewarding views at the top. Didn't see another party on the mountain the whole day.