Trip Report

After a beautiful drive through Oregon and Washington we arrived at the trailhead near Mt. Baker ski area at 4:00 p.m. We hiked down into the valley and up the other side to Lake Ann, an absolutely splendid trail and beautiful place to camp. From our campsite, our route was plainly visible and one could hear pieces of the lower Curtiss Glacier falling into the stream below all night. Dave got us off to an early start the next morning as we were headed across the scree slope to Fisher Chimney around 5:00 a.m. Winding our way up Fisher Chimney, we finally got to a large snowfield with excellent view to the north. Forming our rope team we crossed to Upper Curtiss Glacier. We decided to ascend via Hells Highway as the Hour Glass was in poor shape. To cross the bergschrund on our route to Sulfide Glacier we decided to take to the rock and set un a hand line there as there was no abundance of easy handholds. Once getting all across we then reached Sulfide Glacier and made our way to the base of the summit pinnacle on it. Staying to the west side of the summit we made our way up the granite and finally reached the summit at about 1:30 p.m. There we had beautiful views all around of this alpine environment. Retracing our steps across the glaciers and Fisher Chimney we got back to Lake Ann in time for a quick swim and a great meal. We spent a peaceful night there before packing out the next day. Sally Grosscup, Sue and Gary Doolittle followed Dave Lewinsohn up the mountain. (Gary Doolittle wrote this report.)
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