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by Brad M. McGehee
Mount Baker, which is located in the
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
in Washington state,
is the most glaciated mountain in the
lower 48 states. An ancient volcano,
Mount Baker raises to 10,781 feet, and
is a great destination for hikers,
backpackers, and mountaineers alike.
Backpackers can make the climb from
the parking lot up to the base camp and
camp at the base of a glacier, and
mountaineers, both beginners and
experienced, can climb the many glaciers
all the way to the summit. Day hikers
can even make the hike up to the base
camp, and back again, in a single day.
I recently spent three days on Mount
Baker (early fall), backpacking and
mountaineering, trying out a lot of
equipment, some old and some new. The
focus of this article is a discussion of
what gear I brought along, why I choose
it, along with how well it met my needs.
This was my first trip to Mount
Baker, and I did not know what to
expect, other than the unexpected. While
the summer had been warmer than usual, I
went at the beginning of fall,
which meant that any weather could be
expected, and I wasn't disappointed.
The weather on the first day, when we
hiked from the parking lot to the base
camp, was very warm and sunny, with a
nice breeze. Perhaps even a little
hotter than I prefer when backpacking
and carrying a heavy pack. The second
day was much cooler (to my liking) very
overcast, and very windy. That evening,
just before dusk, the first winter storm
of the season hit, with wind gusts over
60 miles per hour, rain, sleet, and
snow. So that gives you an idea of how
our third day on the mountain went. All
in all, it was a good test of much of
the gear and clothing I brought.
Just as with any outdoor adventure,
our clothing needs changed a lot
throughout the adventure due to changing
conditions and activities. Here's what affected our
comfort:
- The weather changed radically from
day to day. This made it hard to
decide what to carry and/or wear.
- In some cases, we were
backpacking. On other occasions, we
were mountaineering, climbing on
glaciers and snow pack.
- Most everything was very steep,
either very steep up or very steep
down. There were few flat area, so our
activity level was almost always high
when moving.
All of these factors conspired to
make choosing the idea gear and clothing
difficult. I hope the information you
find here will give you an idea of some
of the conditions you might face while
backpacking or climbing a mountain such
as Mount Baker, along with the best gear
to wear and carry.
To make this
article a little easier to read, I have
broken the gear and clothing into these
categories:
While the gear and clothing in this
article were tested specifically on
Mount Baker, my comments are also
applicable to a wide variety of
backpacking and mountaineering
adventures.
In addition, some of the gear and clothing I
brought along on this trip I have
already reviewed, in-depth, on this
website. To see my in-depth reviews,
click on the appropriate links.
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