Baring Mountain
Carla, Bruno, Jeff, and I parked at the Barclay Lake trailhead and
followed the old road that runs east from the trailhead. After a few
minutes we found the steep, muddy bootpath that parallels a creek and
leads steeply south (did I already mention it is steep?) to the top of
the west ridge of Baring. Following the ridge top was the most
pleasant part of the trip.
Soon we were at the 4,800' basin and realized what a poor choice this
trip was for this time of year. We were faced with half a foot of
snow over the boulder field that leads to the col between Baring
Mountain and its south peak. Part way up this treacherous slope Bruno
and Jeff (who had summited Baring before) turned around. Carla and I
continued up, finding the right side of the gully had less boulders
and leg-eating holes.
From the col we plowed north through snow-laden trees, heather slopes,
and more boulder fields. At one point (a bit off route) I failed to
make a short move on rock and slid down a heather slope head-first on
my back for about 20 feet until some trees stopped me (I had stowed my
ice axe to free up my hands). Eventually we made it to the
snow-encrusted, rocky summit. In dry weather this would be easy rock
scrambling, but with a layer of rime I found it quite challenging.
Fun.
Round-trip distance:
6 miles
Elevation gain:
3,830 feet
Car-to-car:
8 hours 44 minutes
-
5 hours 5 minutes
ascending
from
Barclay Lake trailhead
to
summit of Baring Mountain
-
3 hours 39 minutes
descending
from
summit of Baring Mountain
to
Baring Lake trailhead
Copyright © 2024 Gabriel Deal.