Glacier Peak - Sitkum Glacier, June 1998
Within a few weeks of our previous reconnaisance trip, Chris, Dave and myself returned to Glacier Peak. This time we were joined by Scott Peterson and Bruce Heskett. We set out on a Friday afternoon with the Kennedy Hot Springs, about 5 miles in, being our first camp. We all took bivy sacks this time (my first bivy experience) and after having read something about the Sitkum Glacier being popular among back country snowboarders, I was inspired to bring mine. So, we finished packing our gear, locked up Dave's magical mystery van, and with heavy packs embarked for the Kennedy Hot Springs.
The mountain revealed itself from time to time on our way up, but not very often. As before, we did not locate the faint climber's trail and ended up bushwhacking up a steep ridge through heavy timber and brush. Branches caught my snowboard making progress incredibly slow and strenuous and we all were more than happy once we reached timberline and the snow covered slopes above. We put on our crampons and headed through the white-out hopeful that we were going in the right direction. Bruce led the march through the fog and snow and stopped at a level rock outcropping at about 7000ft. This was to be our high camp. Almost certain that nightfall would bring rain showers, I opted to dig myself a snow cave. I managed to avoid the rain that night, but did not much care for suffocating in the bivy. After a sleepless night, we were greeted by more rotten weather. (more...)
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