High Sierra Topix

wingding wrote:I reserved a permit for Baxter Pass Trail for Memorial Day Weekend for a 4-day trip. Mount Baxter is now open from the southwest from December 15 to July 1st, so I'm going to give it a try that way if the snow has melted off enough to get over Baxter Pass.

Has anyone been up the Baxter Pass Trail? How bad is it?

I haven't done Baxter, but, even in a very dry year, I'd bet you'll encounter quite a bit of snow at Baxter Pass on Memorial Day weekend, given that it's 12300. I'd guarantee the "west side" (actually north) of the pass will be pretty much continuous snow down to Baxter Lakes at that time of year owing to the northern exposure of that part of the route and I wouldn't be shocked if you met quite a bit of snow on the south side ("east"), too, simply because of the high elevation. Baxter is the only one of the high S. Sierra Passes Italy Pass and south that I haven't done, so I can't speak from first hand experience. Baxter is one of what I call the Big 4 with 6000' or better elevation gain (Taboose, Sawmill, Baxter, Shepherd). Like Taboose, the topo shows it to be no-nonsense--ie all uphill and no elev. loss, unlike Shepherd that has that notorious 600' loss section (and Sawmill has two or three places with 100' or so of loss). Whether or not the trail is as rocky and rough as Taboose is for it's upper half I don't know.

Yes, I do expect to deal with snow if I head up Baxter over Memorial Day - I'll just have to wait until May comes around to decide for sure on that one. If the end of May this year is like the end of June last year it might be do-able.

So you'll be up here in my corner of the world! You said that you might be up here in Washington around the end of July? My JMT permit starts out on July 31st, and I'll need a day to travel and a day to rest (from the travel), but if your trip is just towards the end of the month I might be able to meet you...I've never done Rainier; every year I'd try to work it in but it just never happened. Would you be going thru the Rainier Mountaineering school?

Shawn - When are you thinking of doing Russell? It would be nice to run into you out there. I might be solo on that trip too - seems like I'm solo more often than not anymore.

Kathy - More than likely I'll give Russell a go at the end of the summer (Aug-Sep). It would be a pleasure to pair up and tap into your knowledge of the area. As much as I hate to admit it on a public forum, I have no east side experience at all. Thus I want to get over there a time or two before attempting Russell.

My outings are often (not always) solo because I don't want to slow anyone down and know my odds of a successful summit are increased when I set my own pace. Just the same, I enjoy company when I can find someone to go along. As the summer evolves I'll keep you posted on my plans. Thanks for the consideration.

Shawn - I guess I end up solo so often for the same reason - I go at my own pace, which isn't always real fast but it is steady. I don't take long breaks because it's hard for me to get going again when I stop for too long. It's hard to find others with the same pace.

Yes, keep me posted as to when you put Russell on your calendar.

Kathy

Rosabella - We signed up for a RMI guided climb on Rainier. We'll be hiking up to Muir Camp on the 30th of July and then attempting the summit on the 31 of July. I haven't done any real glacier travel, so I thought it would be smart to go with a guided trip. I'll probably stay on through the rest of the first week in August and do some more hiking - It sounds like Mount Adams would be a nice hike or overnight trip.

Well Wingding, it looks like you'll be starting your hike on Rainier the same day I'll be starting the JMT. Oh well. I'll be interested to hear about your experience with RMI - I've only heard good reports. Ed Viesturs is still listed as a senior guide and occasionally still takes out a group, but I think you have to pay extra for his expeditions. (But that would be sooo cool!)

Looks like I'll probably be putting Rainier off for another year again. I'm not going to be able to take any more time off this spring or summer than what I've already got planned, and autumn isn't the best time to climb due to crevices. I've never done any technical climbing like this, either, so, although I know people who insist that they've been there and could guide another person, I would only go thru RMI.