25 miles of hiking • 8000' elevation gain • 3 nights
Finally got up here! For the past several years, I've signed up for climbs on various mountains in these parts( Ragged Ridge x2) that were always cancelled. For rain-in August!
This year I got onto a Baker climb during my vacation week, and scheduled several days of explore time afterwards.
We did not complete the climb. Went up Heliotrope Ridge and camped on the Colman Glacier at 7300 ft. It was a great spot, but we were inside a cloud most of the time. It cleared for a few hours to provide spectacular glacier views as we made our dinners and prepared for our alpine start in a few hours. One of our group became sick and none of us slept well attending to her and fretting about her welfare. I was quite cold sleeping on the snow until I added the rope underneath me! Next time will bring two pads. At 230, we woke up to soggy tents and no visibility and didnt feel comfortable leaving our team member(who had recovered but was not going to join the summit bid) in camp. We went back to sleep and awoke a few hours lager still inside the cloud, packed up and descended . 7 miles 3500 ft.
On the second night I stayed on Wells Creek Road and explored a bit of Cougar Ridge, but still a lot of snow. Saw so much bear scat on this wild rugged road which is pretty quiet with no official trail off it, 4 miles, 500 ft.
Third day/night was a great overnighter on the High Ridge trail near Excelsior Pass. Approached from Damfino Lakes. Snowy on north side, but the ridgetops and south slopes were melted out. Alpine heaven! 9 miles, 2250 ft.
On the 4th of July, I drove up to the end of Baker highway, which is gated at Heather Meadows. It was a zoo of course. Later I visited a really cool old growth forest hidden trail. It was hot and I was feeling fatigued, so I brought my hammock and took a nap beneath the canopy of a behemoth.
Last hike-Sauk Mountain! This was a wonderful surprise. I chose it because it was short and close to the highway. Love the steep hanging meadows covered with wildflowers and butterflies. Snowfield on the back side had most of the plodders turning back before the summit block, so I had the top to myself for quite some time. Sat and sketched, feeling sad about the end of my trip. Local marmot browsing nearby. 4 miles 1250 ft.
