June 3, 2001, Mt Baker Summit/Easton

This should be considered an addendum to Mark's report of the same date. This reporter was accompanied by the Lady in Red: L.R. We headed up the Scott Paul trail toward the Squak route but soon lost the trail in the snow. After some exciting creek crossings finally refound it and continued on. Like Mark, got into whiteout at about 6700'. We saw a group appear at about 6000' quite a bit behind us--probably Mark's. Hit dry fluffy new at about 7500 when sticking problems began. Got onto some boot uptrack after awhile which reduced the sticking. New snow got to almost 10" in some areas. I saw very little evidence of crevasses other than the usual monsters--the least compared to my trips in the past although they were usually in July. Just lurking underneath I imagine. The regular skier's uproute that leads to the caldera is undoable this year. The postholers set a route about 500 yards to the west which works fine. Lots of wind and clear skies above 9000'. We skinned the whole Roman Wall--a first for me in six trips here. Howling winds on top. The summit, with sastrugi ice, had a neat prayer flag adding to the Himmalaya-type ambiance. Got out of the wind 40' down toward the Boulder east side. Enjoyed a wonderful, although leaden legged, descent with some windcrust, lots of hard-earned powder, and some more whiteout in the 6800' ecstasy of turns. If corn is your goal, it may take a few more weeks.

Nick Davies