Leader – Rick Laidlaw
Co-leader – Erik Anderson
Participants – David Click, Jack Nealon, Doug Laidlaw, Alex Laidlaw, Ryan Laidlaw
Sunday June 22nd – All team members departed Boston on the same flight arriving in Seattle around 10:30 am. After picking up the rental car and getting lunch we stopped at REI and the grocery store to pick up fuel and food. We checked into the hotel near the airport and had some downtime to pack our bags for an early start the following morning. Dinner at a nearby restaurant included a celebration of Ryan’s 21st birthday!
Monday June 23rd – Our plan was to stay on east coast time as much as possible. This would allow us to avoid hiking and climbing during the hottest parts of the day and it would also make an alpine start on summit day feel a little less early. We left the airport hotel at 5 am, stopped in Enumclaw for a quick breakfast and made it to the White River Ranger Station when they opened at 7:30 am. We picked up our permits and were on the Glacier Basin Trail, headed for Glacier Basin camp, by about 9 am. It’s a short hike to Glacier Basin and we were settled into camp by early afternoon. We spent the afternoon viewing the wildlife, including a momma bear and her two cubs.
Tuesday June 24th – We woke early again, ate and packed up to make our way to high camp, Camp Schurman. Climbing the Inter Glacier was easily done in boots (no crampons) and there was no need to rope up. After a tricky downclimb of the scree field below Camp Curtis and onto the Emmons Glacier we roped up for the ½ mile climb to Camp Schurman. We arrived at Camp Schurman around noon.
The biggest question of the trip was which day our summit day would be. We had planned an extra day at Camp Schurman to use as either a rest day or a day to wait for better weather (or both). But if the weather was going to be better on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, we didn’t want to pass it up. After consulting the most current forecasts the decision was made to make a summit attempt that evening. While the forecast for Wednesday night was good, it appeared Tuesday night would be slightly better.
We all went to bed by around 6:00 pm with a plan to get up at 11:00 pm and leave for the summit at midnight.
Wednesday June 25th– We awoke to clear skies, cool temps and light winds. As we climbed higher however, the temperature dropped and the wind increased. Without sunlight, it was too cold to stop moving so we made good time up the mountain but the constant 20+ MPH wind was concerning. After sunrise we all felt a little better but as the sun rose, the clouds lowered. We reached Liberty Saddle in a cloud with about 50 meters of visibility and wind chills below zero. A party in front of us said they lost the trail and decided to turn back. After a discussion our team decided it was time to turn around also.
After crossing the narrow snow ledge on the upper Wilson Glacier we took a break. As we did the wind stopped, the sun came out and the entire upper mountain was visible. After another short conversation the decision was made to turn around again and make another summit attempt. On this attempt we were able to get up to about 14,000 feet on the summit cone before, once again, the winds rose, the temps dropped, and visibility again became an issue. The group consensus was that the mountain was trying to tell us something and this wasn’t our day. While it was disappointing to turn around so close to the summit, I feared that the wind would be much higher on the summit and the wind chills much lower, creating a much more dangerous situation should something go wrong.
We returned to camp, arriving around noon.
Thursday June 26th – When we woke the mountain was quiet, temps were warmer, winds were lighter and there were fewer clouds. Clearly, we were misled by the forecast. We had breakfast, packed up and started back for the trailhead around 8 am. The hike back to the car was (mostly) uneventful. Gaining the scree slope after departing the Emmons glacier took a little time and we enjoyed a fast glissade down the Inter Glacier. We arrived at the car around 1 pm and drove to the nearest burger joint for lunch and a beer.
With an extra day in the schedule, we decided to ride around to the other side of the mountain to check out Paradise. I found an Airbnb just outside the park entrance for the night.
Friday June 27th – After checking out of the Airbnb we drove up to Paradise but once again the weather didn’t cooperate. We had planned to do a short hike up toward the Muir Snowfield (or some other viewpoint) but Paradise was socked in with fog and light rain. We had some breakfast at the Paradise Inn, checked out the visitor center and then began the drive back to SeaTac.
That evening we went into Seattle for a celebratory dinner and made it back to SeaTac in time for Erik to make his red-eye flight home.
Saturday June 28th – The Laidlaws took a morning flight home while David and Jack spent another day in Seattle, taking a red-eye flight home that night.
To get so close to the summit is an obvious disappointment and the decision to turn back will be a topic of discussion for our team for a long time to come. However, I think we made the right call under the circumstances and I consider it a successful trip. Erik and Doug did a great job route finding up and down the mountain and we climbed most of the route without difficulty. I believe everyone had a good time and we worked very well as a group.
~ Rick