Colfax Peak - 9460' - East Ridge Class 2
April 2015
This trip with Josh was a spur of the moment trip where we wanted to give the north ridge of Mount Baker a shot, but due to there being more snow than we thought, settled for Colfax Peak. I was about to head back to Bozeman in the middle of April, when Josh and I drove up to the Mount Baker Trailhead and crashed for a few hours at the trailhead. At 4am we got up, threw our packs together and started hiking up the Heliotrope Ridge trail. The incredibly dry winter meant most of the trail to treeline was easy to follow with minimal snow cover. As twilight came we reached treeline and continued up the ridge. We were sinking in past our knees at times as we veered left onto the Elliot Glacier. We didn't have skis or snowshoes so we were forced to plow our way up the glacier making an ascending traverse towards the base of the north ridge. Huge crevasses surrounded us and we roped up when we started coming across long depressions in the snow, which we knew were crevasses covered in perhaps 2-3 feet of snow.
We continued slowly up the glacier and reached a point where we either had to continue towards the north ridge or cut back right where we could still meet back up with the standard route. We were both feeling tired and somewhat weak for some reason, so we decided to forgo the north ridge for a time when the snow was more consolidated, and head for the standard route. So we started heading straight up and alternated breaking trail through the deep snow until we met back with the standard route. We were fairly close to the Elliot Headwall route and were able to get a good look at it on our way up. Upon reaching a flat spot at the base of the north face of Colfax Peak we rested, and was disappointed to realize we would still be postholing all the way up to the big saddle, another 600 feet or so up.
When we finally reached the saddle at about 9,000 feet, we realized we had been out for almost 8 hours and still had yet to summit anything. Since it was still going to be at least 2 more hours to reach Baker, we decided to turn right and nab Colfax. We walked along the top of the ridge in brutal wind until we reached a steep snow step above a bergschrund, and continued to the false summit which wasn't much more than a small rock tower but there was so much snow covering it it looked like a giant mushroom! To my dismay, we had to descend 120 feet to another smaller saddle, then re-ascent the final 160 feet to the summit. As we crossed the small saddle just before starting the final push, I noticed a distinct change in the appearance of the snow on the surface, and realized there were small crevasses covered in just an inch or so of snow all around me! I yelled to Josh to watch where he walks as I tried to navigate and stay on firm snow. I did however stray too far right and fell in a small crevasse. Luckily I caught myself with my arms since it was so narrow but nevertheless, as I looked down I could not see the bottom. This was my first crevasse fall and even though it was small, and I was able to hoist myself out, the danger is still there.
Once past that saddle, we ascended the final snow slope to the summit, where we had excellent views of Lincoln Peak below us. Unfortunately the summit of Baker became engulfed in clouds and looking well off to the west we saw black clouds. Apparently it was raining hard over Bellingham, Arlington and Seattle but we were lucky to only have passing clouds, which actually made the photos and scenery better. We rested for over 30 minutes on the summit enjoying the views and admiring Lincoln Peak. We had to start down though as it was getting late. We carefully retraced our steps to the large saddle on the standard Baker route without incident and started running down to our gear cache, where we left technical gear like ice tools and screws.
After another break, we continued down the standard route, sinking to our waist at times struggling to descend even a 40 degree slope, while skiers blew past us. In retrospect I had the ability to ski everything we walked on that day and next time I will be sure to bring them, or climb the north ridge at a time when there is firm snow and/or ice. As we were heading down, I spotted Colin Haley leading up the third pitch of a routine First Ascent of his on the north face of Colfax Peak. We watched him as his partner climbed their second pitch, and he led the 3rd for at least 45 minutes, and shot some close up photos of them. As the afternoon progressed, we had great lighting of Lincoln Peak and took many photos as we made our way back to treeline where we left our approach shoes. The rest of the hike out was pretty but not too fun as we had been postholing for 10 hours! Reaching the car was awesome as my feet were sore and wet.
The banner photo above is the perfect sunrise we saw on Lincoln Peak
We continued slowly up the glacier and reached a point where we either had to continue towards the north ridge or cut back right where we could still meet back up with the standard route. We were both feeling tired and somewhat weak for some reason, so we decided to forgo the north ridge for a time when the snow was more consolidated, and head for the standard route. So we started heading straight up and alternated breaking trail through the deep snow until we met back with the standard route. We were fairly close to the Elliot Headwall route and were able to get a good look at it on our way up. Upon reaching a flat spot at the base of the north face of Colfax Peak we rested, and was disappointed to realize we would still be postholing all the way up to the big saddle, another 600 feet or so up.
When we finally reached the saddle at about 9,000 feet, we realized we had been out for almost 8 hours and still had yet to summit anything. Since it was still going to be at least 2 more hours to reach Baker, we decided to turn right and nab Colfax. We walked along the top of the ridge in brutal wind until we reached a steep snow step above a bergschrund, and continued to the false summit which wasn't much more than a small rock tower but there was so much snow covering it it looked like a giant mushroom! To my dismay, we had to descend 120 feet to another smaller saddle, then re-ascent the final 160 feet to the summit. As we crossed the small saddle just before starting the final push, I noticed a distinct change in the appearance of the snow on the surface, and realized there were small crevasses covered in just an inch or so of snow all around me! I yelled to Josh to watch where he walks as I tried to navigate and stay on firm snow. I did however stray too far right and fell in a small crevasse. Luckily I caught myself with my arms since it was so narrow but nevertheless, as I looked down I could not see the bottom. This was my first crevasse fall and even though it was small, and I was able to hoist myself out, the danger is still there.
Once past that saddle, we ascended the final snow slope to the summit, where we had excellent views of Lincoln Peak below us. Unfortunately the summit of Baker became engulfed in clouds and looking well off to the west we saw black clouds. Apparently it was raining hard over Bellingham, Arlington and Seattle but we were lucky to only have passing clouds, which actually made the photos and scenery better. We rested for over 30 minutes on the summit enjoying the views and admiring Lincoln Peak. We had to start down though as it was getting late. We carefully retraced our steps to the large saddle on the standard Baker route without incident and started running down to our gear cache, where we left technical gear like ice tools and screws.
After another break, we continued down the standard route, sinking to our waist at times struggling to descend even a 40 degree slope, while skiers blew past us. In retrospect I had the ability to ski everything we walked on that day and next time I will be sure to bring them, or climb the north ridge at a time when there is firm snow and/or ice. As we were heading down, I spotted Colin Haley leading up the third pitch of a routine First Ascent of his on the north face of Colfax Peak. We watched him as his partner climbed their second pitch, and he led the 3rd for at least 45 minutes, and shot some close up photos of them. As the afternoon progressed, we had great lighting of Lincoln Peak and took many photos as we made our way back to treeline where we left our approach shoes. The rest of the hike out was pretty but not too fun as we had been postholing for 10 hours! Reaching the car was awesome as my feet were sore and wet.
The banner photo above is the perfect sunrise we saw on Lincoln Peak
Colin Haley belaying his follower on the north face of Colfax Peak - By Josh
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Colin Haley leading on the north face of Colfax Peak - By Josh
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