Glacier Peak Attempt to 6000ft

Glacier Peak Attempt to 6000ft

March 11-12, 2023

Eric, Jake, Andrew

Our original plan for the weekend was some objectives up Suiattle River Road. We met up at the turnoff for Suiattle River Road at 7am Saturday, but then we saw a sign posted on a kiosk next to the road. It was a fire closure order for the entire road and area within the national forest. I recalled this area being closed last summer due to forest fires, but the closure order had been set to expire by the end of October. Fire closures are always lifted in the fall when the snow starts, so I had figured this one was the same.

But the order posted said that the closure was extended in November and the order was valid through Dec 31, 2023. It was a $5k fine per person for entering, even driving on the road. We couldn’t figure out why this closure would be needed in the winter, but didn’t want to get in trouble. Back in January I had driven past a small Road Closed sign on cascade river road and soon after law enforcement followed me in and told me to leave, even though I was clearing blowdowns from the road. With that memory fresh in my mind I was nervous about getting caught again.

We discussed backup plans and settled on climbing Glacier Peak. It was sort of nearby and we might still have time to get the summit even given the late start. With the low snow level my snowmobile might even help with the approach, which was appealing to me. I’d previously climbed Glacier Peak a few times before already this time of year. I climbed it in early April 2017 via the north fork sauk approach, and I could drive all the way to the trailhead that year. I’d tried the same approach in mid march 2020, but had to bail at the white peak ridge when we encountered sketchy avy conditions.

The next weekend I went in and summitted via the White Chuck River route, which was longer but avoided avy terrain.

I didn’t really need to get Glacier Peak again since I’d already climbed it in winter, but it sounded like a fun nearby objective. Given the late start the White Chuck route didn’t make much sense (about 50 miles round trip). I was on snowshoes so would be slower than skiing anyways. The north fork route was closer to 32 miles round trip, so was much more feasible. Plus it would be fun since I could use my snowmobile for the approach.

It did cross one avy slope on the south side of the white peak ridge, but we thought the current nwac forecast was good enough that we had a reasonable chance of finding stable snow on the route. So we decided to go for that backup plan.

We stopped briefly in Darrington to download new maps and text our friends that we’d changed plans. Then we started heading up Mountain Loop highway. It was plowed until the end of the pavement, then turned into deep snow with ruts. Andrew left his low-clearance car there and got a ride with Jake. I took the lead in my truck. The snow seemed to get deeper a few miles in and I stopped and considered snowmobiling from there. But we decided to push on a little farther.

I’m glad we did, since after a few more miles the snow melted out to patchy gravel. I think the lower road was more shaded for some reason. We got all the way to the north fork sauk turnoff, then drove through continuous, but still shallow, snow.

Just beyond the turnoff there was a big 2.5ft diameter blowdown that had been freshly chainsawed out. But getting past was still tricky. We had to make a very tight squeeze on a side slope that was muddy and slippery, but we inched through. Beyond that was a steep turnoff with deep snow, then the truck ruts stopped and snowmobile tracks started. It was still kind of patchy gravel so I drove a little farther until I found a good large turnout. We parked there and unloaded.

By 10am we were cruising up the road. It was a late start, but we would have to deal with that on a minimally-planned Plan B trip. The lower section of road looked to have a few melted-out sections still, so we started out riding meatloaf. Jake sat on the seat wearing his pack while Andrew and I stood on the sides.

After a half mile the snow became continuous and we stopped to reorganize. I was happy the sled didn’t overheat going up gravel with three guys and overnight gear on it. I’ve never had an issue, but don’t have too many data points yet with three people on the sled. I have many data points of two people on the sled with overnight gear towing the third behind on skis, and that is not a problem for the drive belt or overheating.

Soon Andrew was rigged up and we got started. I maintained a 20mph pace and we followed the other sled tracks for a mile before they turned around. After that the snow was softer and the sled was a bit more tippy. At one point I almost tipped over on the side. We got the sled back in the road, and I continued standing up for better balance instead of sitting. I think this was less comfortable for Jake on the seat, but at least it meant we wouldn’t tip over.

We eventually reached the north fork sauk turnoff and parkedthe sled. I noticed I was fragrantly violating two posted signs – the “No Parking” sign and the “Front In Parking Only” sign. But it didn’t seem too risky with us the only ones there.

By 11am we started up the trail. Andrew and Jake led the way on skis and I followed on snowshoes. I was being ultra cautious to avoid injury before an upcoming spring expedition. We managed to make a solid 2mph pace, taking breaks every hour. Within a few hours we passed the old Mackinaw shelter location and started ascending the south slopes.

The switchbacks were easy enough to follow, and we eventually broke trail up to the clearing at 4600ft just before sunset. Above us were large open slopes leading to the west ridge of White Peak. Our intended route was to go up and over that ridge. Unfortunately, we saw what appeared to be fresh avy crowns near our intended ascent route. They didn’t cover the whole face, which meant there was probably still unstable snow there.

We debated what to do, and decided it looked like a route going up dense trees farther up the valley. I knew if we could just get to the ridge then the route avoided avy terrain from there.

We traversed over to the dense trees, and then the snow got much deeper. Progress was very slow through the steep trees, but we eventually hit lower-angle terrain. It was dark by then and I led the way up. I was in snowshoes but I tried to zig zag at a low angle with lots of switchbacks so my tracks would still be helpful for Andrew and Jake.

We gradually pushed higher until we hit the edge of treeline around 6,000ft at 9pm. On our topo maps it looked like there were still a few hundred more feet of slopes above 35 degree slopes, though now we wouldn’t be protected by the trees. We found a layer of 6-8″ windslab that was reactive and seemed widespread. That seemed too risky to proceed, and by that point we were out of time to try any different route. Though, based on the map there isn’t really any route on that face that completely avoids avy terrain.

Given the conditions we found we decided the safest decision was to bail. I suppose if we had done a bit more careful planning and actually planned in advance to climb Glacier Peak that weekend we might have done the White Chuck route instead, but it didn’t work out that way.

We descended back into the trees low enough to where it was sheltered, safe, and low angle. There I dug out a platform and set up the mega mid. We melted snow then Jake and Andrew slept in the mega mid while I bivied outside. We could have dug out the mega mid to sleep all three, but I decided to save time and just bivy.

Sunday morning we got up at sunrise and skied and hiked down. We made fast time back down to the river valley, then followed our tracks out to the sled by mid day. We then loaded up and cruised out, towing Andrew behind. I had to slow down a few times for obstacles and unfortunately Andrew had to bail. The second time, though, we were almost to the melted out spot, so we just all piled on meatloaf style.

The last half mile was more melted out and I saw some fresh truck ruts a few hundred feet above our parking spot. I’ve noticed this phenomon almost every time I’m deep on a snowy road. I think I’ve driven about as far as possible, but on return there are always truck or jeep tracks going just a little farther than I made it. I think maybe it’s a badge of honor when going on roads like that if you can get a little farther than the preivous guy.

We powered through some gravel sections then made it to the truck by 2pm without overheating at all. I soon loaded up as the wind and rain picked up. We took our time getting out, and had to pile up some rocks and dirt to help get around the tricky blowdown. But we soon made it back out safely and headed home.

Movie of the trip:

© 2023, egilbert@alum.mit.edu. All rights reserved.