Again Mike and I went out for a weekend; this time to climb Mt. Baker. Its an amazing volcano covered with glaciers and snow. Great place for skiing, sledding, ice climbing, snowshoeing and hiking. The day started like any climb, full of energy and excitement. We powered up to where we would camp for the night. The wind was blowing and the temperature was dropping fast. Mike and I have unspoken roles when it comes to backpacking. Somehow we both set up the tent and I get our rest pads, sleeping bags and such all done up and organized while he gets dinner made. Today was a little different. Due to the wind we needed a wall around our tent to protect us. Mike was having a hard time finding enough rock. We both worked on the wall and secured the tent down. That night was a cold one. We both had a hard time sleeping. The wind would blow the tent so hard it would be covering our faces as we lay in it. I'm sure that if we were not in the tent, it would have blown away.
We got up in the middle of the night to start our push to the summit. The stars were out and it was freezing. We quickly put on our gear and headed out. The wind was still kicking and it stung as it blew little fine crystals of snow at any exposed skin. Within a few short hours our faces felt like they were sunburnt from being blasted by the snow and wind. It was amazing how the wind was pushing us back. It took us forever to get a few steps ahead. But we kept pushing on breaking trail all the way.
We finaly gave in and turned back. As we got higher and higher it got windier and windier. It was fun but now it just sucked. We were both cold and our faces hurt. It was time to go back down and re-group. Its nice to summit but its better to come home safe....
