March 2, 2019, Mt. Baker Highway, Goat Mountain
3/2/19
WA Cascades West Slopes North (Mt Baker)
2194
2
Inspired by a trip report from last weekend we've decided to head up Goat Mountain. Party of three.
We parked our car at the Shuksan Picnic Area. It would be possible to drive on the Hannegan Pass road at least up to the fork with the Nooksack Cirque Rd (NF 34). With high-clearance 4WD, snow chains, and a penchant for adventure you could maybe drive to Goat Mtn TH. It did not seem possible to drive to the end of the road (TH for Hannegan Pass & Ruby).
Hannegan Pass Rd has more than enough snow to skin on. We've continued up the forest on a good skin track. That forest was most definitely not something I'd want to go down, there was just barely enough snow for the skin track.
The south shoulder going up had some hard but thin (1-2 inches) wind slabs from around 6000 ft to the false summit. Ski crampons were indispensable. Boots without skis frequently just plunged through, skis weren't always breaking through, and skins wouldn't catch.
From the false summit we traversed to a knob just next to the true summit. Amazing views. We did not climb the true summit. The narrow ridge leading to it was heavily corniced and the windward side was a steep slope with not-so-great looking runout.
From the knob we traversed east and dropped down a north facing gully (50 degree steep for about 10 feet) and continued down the north glacier/snowfield. Lots of cold powdery snow but watch out for cliffs in the upper portion. At the bottom we squeezed through the Swamp Creek gully and ended up just below the Twin Lakes Rd. We skinned up ~200 yards to it and skied down the road.
Our track: https://caltopo.com/m/25KE
We parked our car at the Shuksan Picnic Area. It would be possible to drive on the Hannegan Pass road at least up to the fork with the Nooksack Cirque Rd (NF 34). With high-clearance 4WD, snow chains, and a penchant for adventure you could maybe drive to Goat Mtn TH. It did not seem possible to drive to the end of the road (TH for Hannegan Pass & Ruby).
Hannegan Pass Rd has more than enough snow to skin on. We've continued up the forest on a good skin track. That forest was most definitely not something I'd want to go down, there was just barely enough snow for the skin track.
The south shoulder going up had some hard but thin (1-2 inches) wind slabs from around 6000 ft to the false summit. Ski crampons were indispensable. Boots without skis frequently just plunged through, skis weren't always breaking through, and skins wouldn't catch.
From the false summit we traversed to a knob just next to the true summit. Amazing views. We did not climb the true summit. The narrow ridge leading to it was heavily corniced and the windward side was a steep slope with not-so-great looking runout.
From the knob we traversed east and dropped down a north facing gully (50 degree steep for about 10 feet) and continued down the north glacier/snowfield. Lots of cold powdery snow but watch out for cliffs in the upper portion. At the bottom we squeezed through the Swamp Creek gully and ended up just below the Twin Lakes Rd. We skinned up ~200 yards to it and skied down the road.
Our track: https://caltopo.com/m/25KE
Our group of three was right behind you and managed to claw our way up without ski crampons (although not without severe discomfort). Glad to have seen you dropping in to the right of the cornice, that was invaluable beta for us. A great day, other than the snowmobile track shuffle on the way out!
Awesome, glad my TR inspired! You took a steeper route off the summit to the glacier from your topo.
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