Introducing the Family to a New-found Passion

One of our most pop­u­lar climbs here at Moun­tain Mad­ness has always been climb­ing Mt. Bak­er via the Eas­t­on Glac­i­er. It’s almost a rite of pas­sage for climb­ing in the Cas­cades. After bare­ly get­ting out of Boston Basin in time to lead this climb due to a road wash out on Cas­cade Riv­er Road, I joined up with the Long fam­i­ly on their first fam­i­ly climb up Mt. Bak­er. David had climbed with Moun­tain Mad­ness on numer­ous trips in Red rocks and the Cas­cades and con­vinced his broth­er Michael and his wife Joel­la to brush off their cram­pons and come out for a trip. 

Marc Rip­perg­er Photo

We start­ed under clear skies and hiked swift­ly into Sandy camp at 6,000 ft. We spent some time refresh­ing our glac­i­er trav­el skills before din­ner and prepped for our sum­mit day. The next morn­ing alarms sound­ed at 2:30 am and our grog­gy eyes were perked up by some cof­fee and hot drinks. We set out for the long climb up the Eas­t­on Glac­i­er of Mt. Baker.

Marc Rip­perg­er Photo

Our route curved around toward the Dem­ing Glac­i­er and weaved through some fun and exposed ter­rain below Sher­man Crater. We then tack­led the Roman Head­wall and found our­selves on top of Mt. Bak­er. Head­ing down, we retraced our steps back down to camp and enjoyed a cel­e­bra­tion din­ner. I show­cased my New Mex­i­can back­ground and cooked up span­ish beans and rice with fresh chick­en. We went to bed under the pit­ter-pat­ter of rain through the night and into the morning.

Marc Rip­perg­er Photo

The final day we hiked out under a cloudy sky, excit­ed to have had a clear sum­mit day. We talked and laughed about our trip over lunch in Seat­tle and con­spired about what excit­ing trip to plan next for their alpine career. 

- MM Guide Marc Ripperger