Glacier Mountaineering Society

Sun, Jun 5 2011 - Baldhead Mountain (View Original Event Details)

Coordinator(s):		Larry Hiller
Participants:		Diane Lundgren, Frank Wesolovski, Dennis Bonawitz, Ken McDermott, Martin Valles, Charlene Coleman, Caitlin Hunt, Bruce White, Rhonda White, Dan Fern, Dell Meuchel, Gail Meuchel, Laurel R. Vielle, Alan Gregory, Joe Schletz, Larry Hiller

Write Up:
With rainy days often the norm this spring, the weather on Sunday for our Baldhead climb was about as good as it gets. An enthusiastic group of 16 hikers gathered at Kip’s Cabin off Highway 2, across the road from Fielding. The coordinator, having not done the climb before, pleaded ignorance about the route, but Dell and Martin were familiar with the terrain. We followed the Geifer Creek Trail several miles (part of the way on snowshoes) before arriving at the base of an expansive, dry, open slope which provided access to the ridge. After huffing and puffing a thousand vertical feet or so to the top, we were treated to an unobstructed view offering a sea of snow-covered peaks in every direction, topped off by expanses of blue sky. Notably, as far as the eye could see, large cornices still clung to surrounding ridgelines. We traversed on snow across the long saddle to the Baldhead summit, hung out a while and then began the descent, retracing our route. A lengthy snowfield, adjacent to the open slope, provided a quick way to return to the trail. Individual glissading techniques were displayed by all with varying degrees of quality and success. A conveniently located tree allowed several folks to abruptly terminate their slides just above a patch of rocky ground. Joe missed the tree wide-right and his momentum sent him skidding across the rough patch before finally coming to stop. Fortunately, only his pride suffered - not his backside. It was a good early season wake-up call for all of us and a pointed reminder that mountaineering is always potentially hazardous. Arriving back at the vehicles at Kip’s Cabin, we noshed on the Meuchels’ and the Whites’ homemade salsas, enjoyed fine beverages and celebrated a successful ascent with a compatible group on a fine spring day.

Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Tim Anderson at twamontana@gmail.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.