The snow line had moved quite a bit after what must have been a record breaking heat wave the week before. It was so hot, they closed down the office. Unfortunately for me, it was the only building I had access to that had air conditioning. This did not bode well for the skiing we wanted to do the following weekend during the 4th of July.
I had been on the fence about going on the trip, since backpacking earlier in the summer had led to some knee problems. My co-worker, Christy, had probably asked me three times before I said yes. Even as we left the trailhead I was hoping I wasn’t going to have to be rolled down the hill. I was determined though, I wanted to ski a Washington volcano this summer and this was probably going to be my last chance.
Glacier Peak is the most remote WA volcano and the least well known. Four out of the five Washington volcanoes can be seen from I-5. In order to see Glacier Peak, you have to be in the mountains. It’s almost 9 miles on the route we chose, before you even see the peak. Getting to the top is rough even without the extra weight of skis. As Kurt put it, “it’s going to suck anyways, might as well have fun while we are doing it.”
It took a whole day just to get to base camp, White Pass. We got plenty of comments on the hike up about having skis on our back in the middle of the summer. At camp, we had enough time to catch the sunset and eat dinner and were back up at 3 am to make the summit push. Kurt and I broke off from the group after a mile or so to find more snow for our skis.
As we made our way over the ridge, the wind whipped around us and clouds rolled in and out. What we expected to be a ridge line ended up being a plateau. Very confusing at 4 am, as evidence of the sun is just barely cresting the mountains. As we proceeded through the area to the other side of the plateau, I took a picture of Kurt that has become one of the pictures I have ever taken (see cover photo).
Through the limited mountaineering I have done, I have learned that as long as your snack and hydration game is on point you can hike all day. That was vital to this summit attempt. We left camp at 3:30 am and did not return until 9 pm. Christy, Dave and Jeff had picked up an extra traveler, Josephine, as her group had to turn around before the summit. Kurt had summited the mountain before and wasn’t feeling good so took a rest at the base of the last pitch. I met the hikers at the summit just after 1 pm. We got about 3000 ft of skiing in on the way back to camp. Not too bad for 4th of July ski turns.
We made it back to camp and I was so exhausted I could barely eat dinner. We broke down camp the next morning and started on the 9 mile hike out. Thankfully, my legs held up and I don’t really know how. Victorious beers were shared at the car when we got back, and you better believe we grabbed the first greasy hamburger we saw on our drive back home.
for my friends who are moms 