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I’m flying into Vancouver on the night of July 12 (a Wednesday) with a flight back east that Sunday night. As far as I can tell, these are some of the pros and cons of the two standard routes up Mt. Baker:

Coleman-Deming
Slightly shorter drive from Vancouver (+)
Slightly shorter route overall (+)
More elevation gain (-)
Potential for trailhead parking to be inaccessible due to snow (assuming this won't be an issue by mid July, but if it is (-))

Easton
Longer drive from Vancouver (-)
Less elevation gain (+)
Potential for sharing part of the route with snowmobilers (assuming this won't be an issue by mid July, but if it is (-))

Some questions I haven't been able to answer with a bit of internet research, especially to those of you who have been on both routes:
-Any strong opinions on the subjective quality of each route? Better views, more aesthetically pleasing hiking through varied terrain, etc?
-Which route offers more opportunities for sheltered camps (party of 4, two tents, but unfortunately at this point only one of them is 4 season)?

Anything else I'm not asking that I should be? Any/all responses are much appreciated, thanks!

cbeats wrote:Coleman-Deming
Slightly shorter drive from Vancouver (+)
Slightly shorter route overall (+)
More elevation gain (-)
Potential for trailhead parking to be inaccessible due to snow (assuming this won't be an issue by mid July, but if it is (-))

The trailhead will be snow free by mid July, it will not be an issue. The drive will be shorter, by perhaps as much as two hours coming from Vancouver. Coleman-Deming makes much more sense in that respect. The difference in elevation gain and horizontal distance between the two routes is negligible.

cbeats wrote:Easton
Longer drive from Vancouver (-)
Less elevation gain (+)
Potential for sharing part of the route with snowmobilers (assuming this won't be an issue by mid July, but if it is (-))

There will not be any snowmobilers in mid July. It is a longer drive coming from Vancouver, again, negligible horizontal and vertical distance between the two routes.

cbeats wrote:-Any strong opinions on the subjective quality of each route? Better views, more aesthetically pleasing hiking through varied terrain, etc?

My personal preference is for the Coleman-Deming. It is more interesting, maybe a bit steeper, more varied terrain on the glacier. The C_D approach is steep right from the car, and direct, through a lovely example of second growth, thick, temperate rain forest. I typically take 60 minutes from the car to the glacier's edge. The Easton is less steep starting from the car, wanders through some open meadows and is overall less steep but perhaps a bit longer.

cbeats wrote:-Which route offers more opportunities for sheltered camps (party of 4, two tents, but unfortunately at this point only one of them is 4 season)?

I would not worry about having a three season tent on either route. I typically use a tarp (Black Diamond Betamid) if I am going overnight. Both have camp sites that are suitable and relatively sheltered. It really is about how well you stake and guy the tent out. I've seen very expensive expedition quality tents become kites on the Coleman-Deming more than once. Even if you have a free standing tent, stake it down. The C-D has a campsite on the glacier below the Black Buttes that is pretty sheltered and flat. I don't recall any potential campsites on the Easton glacier itself, only below the edge of the glacier.

As usual, ExcitableBoy is right on with his answers to your questions. I also prefer Coleman-Deming route over Easton. There will be more climbers on the C-D but the views of north side of Baker on the approach are better. We like to camp at the top of the hogback at the base of the glacier, good bivy sites in the rocks and running water. 3 season tent is fine in July. I don't know about 60 minutes from car to glacier, [must have been a young ExBoy], more like 2 hours for me. What's the hurry? Wild flowers will be blooming, mountain to stare at, trail gets a bit steep before the glacier.

nickmech wrote:I don't know about 60 minutes from car to glacier, [must have been a young ExBoy], more like 2 hours for me. What's the hurry? Wild flowers will be blooming, mountain to stare at, trail gets a bit steep before the glacier.

I was a single parent when I was younger and typically could only get a single day to myself, so I squeezed as much in as I could. I typically climbed Baker as a day climb, doing the NR in 12 hours car to car and the Coleman Headwall in 10 hours car to car. Full NR of Forbidden in 14 hours car to car. I was always in a hurry when I was younger, now I enjoy slowing down and enjoying the sights. I also have a greater lung capacity and VO2 MAX than Ed Viesteurs, and I'm shorter, and I trained by running hundreds of thousands of vertical elevation on trails per year, so that helped. The first climber I climbed with who was natively as fast as I was is Colin Haley.

Thanks so much for the awesome responses! I guess in addition to researching the routes themselves I should have done more than a cursory Google Maps driving time estimate to the trailheads.

Good to hear that a 3-season tent won't be the worst idea in the world. The Eureka A-frame my brothers and I had on a Mt. Rainier attempt a few years ago looked a bit out of place, although we did have a similar experience to ExcitableBoy as we watched a 4-season mountaineering tent, silhouetted beautifully by the setting sun, sail away from Camp Muir after a particularly strong gust of wind.

We'll be taking it nice and slow (definitely slower than an hour to the glacier), with a rest/weather/crevasse-rescue-practice day built into the schedule if needed.

Thanks again!

nickmech wrote:As usual, ExcitableBoy is right on with his answers to your questions. I also prefer Coleman-Deming route over Easton...

I'm not surprised.

nickmech wrote:... I also prefer Coleman-Deming route over Easton...

I agree with nickmech too.

My first attempt of Mt Baker was via Easton Glacier (one-day-attempt), just a day later after climbing DC. Unlike on Rainier, I learned a great deal about crevasses I had to navigate through and cross over (lots of them). Beside the crevasses I did not like the route mainly due to the traffic of people (perhaps it was a weekend) who were making comments about me. So since then I’ve been attempting the mountain from North Side seeing no or a few teams only. And yes the forest is beautiful and the meadow bellow the glacier, especially when blooming with millions of flowers, was just spectacular (man, that one time I did not bring my camera!!!).

Over my last attempt I started Roosevelt Glacier and was hoping to descend via Coleman G. which I’d done before overnight. Unfortunately, it was late, hot, with soft/wet snow, and finally a few big and wide crevasses without any bridges made me wondering if I was able to get back to the safe-zone before dark. One or two crevasses would not be much of an obstacle but I estimated more than that and retreated. After that I never climbed Baker again (too far for me). It’s a small mountain but heavily crevassesed, very serious, one of my favorites. Perhaps early in the season there are more snow-fields but that’s not the reason I climb glaciers

Mt Baker is indeed a serious mountain:
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/lo ... 17854.html