By Rod Jacobson
Ken Kruger, Allen Light, Chris Wright & myself (Rod Jacobson) met @ the Mt. Bachelor Park & Ride @ Midnight, Sunday morning, the 2nd of May. We had planned on car-pooling up in my van, but decided to take two small cars instead, so Ken would be guaranteed to be able to get back to Bend in time for a Noon commitment – it turned out to be a good thing that we did!
We got up to Timberline @ 2:30am & spent 20 minutes getting dressed & ready before starting up @ 2:50am. Everyone was loaded up with AT skis, except for myself. I didn’t want to carry my snowboard up on my 1st attempt @ this climb. I intended to ‘Glissade’ down as far as I could instead. This was also the first attempted climb of Mt. Hood for Chris.
The weather wasn’t looking too bad from the parking lot. What was un-nerving were the groups of people coming down the mountain already. It was a near full moon when we started that lit our way – for a while. After we got to the bottom of Palmer Lift, we found out why: it was windy & foggy. Groups continued to pass us on their way down. The snow was slushy for the first 1.5 hrs. The others in our group decided not to ‘skin up’, probably because they had to baby-sit me, and didn’t want to leave me behind. We did get passed slowly by a couple of small groups that did decide to ‘skin up’. By 4:30am, our chances of summiting weren’t looking very good, due to the weather. At this point the slush turned to hard pack, and the slope increased enough to justify putting on our crampons. Shortly after ‘cramping up’ (my own mutation), Ken decided to call it quits & head back down. We got one of his 2 radios from him & used it an hour later to confirm his arrival back @ the parking lot. He ended up making it back to Bend in plenty of time.
We made it to the road @ the top of Palmer @ ~ 5:00am. There were a dozen or so curious looking 8’ deep by 8’ wide trenches (see pics) just above the road. We used them as a temporary wind break. By ~5:10am we saw the first glow of the gorgeous sunny day to come. I was very happy to finally be climbing by natural light shortly thereafter. We continued up another 30 minutes before Allen & Chris dropped off their skis a hundred yards E. of the main trail, ~halfway between the top of Palmer & the bottom of Crater Rock (~ 9000’). I was glad I didn’t have to carry the extra weight up to that point!
I shot the early pics with my 35mm camera that I usually take on backpacking trips. I was very disappointed that none of them turned out very good. I’m not sure if this was due to the film not liking the cold, or that I was using 200 speed film, when I should have been using 400 speed film (in the low-light conditions of the early morning). Fortunately, I also brought my new digital camera – a Fujifilm S3000, w/ a 256M memory card & Li-ion batteries (which are 95% resistant to cold @ 0 deg. F). With this camera, almost every picture turns out great. These are the pics that I have posted with this write-up. I spent a total of ~ 0.5 hrs. taking ~200 pictures from this point on. It slowed me down, but I just couldn’t help myself in such a beautiful environment (plus I welcomed the periodic rest).
We were subjected to the sulfur smell emitted by the many sulfur vents found along both sides of the route the rest of the way up to the top of the Hogsback & back down to the ski drop. We worked our way up to & around Crater Rock until we reached the bottom of the Hogsback @ ~7am. I dropped my poles & broke out my ice axe here – everyone else had already done the same much earlier. I found this to be a Shangri-laish area, protected from the wind & nestled between Crater Rock, the Steel Cliff, the Pearly Gates & the rest of Hood’s rugged rock buttresses & outcroppings. After shooting more pics & preparing myself for the home-stretch, I headed up @ 7:15am. Chris & Allen couldn’t wait for me any longer, as they were anxious to get to the summit, so they were about 100 & 200 meters ahead, respectively. After climbing the Hogsback’s ice steps for ~ 15 minutes I reached a very intact Bergschrund. I’m glad we didn’t have to climb around this, it would have been quite a detour! Now that I was in ice, I was hoping to be able to tell the difference between my crampons. I had sharpened my rt. set, but not the left – no difference. I don’t know if the fact that I was climbing in regular, flexible soled leather hiking boots had anything to do w/ this.
After a long haul up the Hogsback, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was expecting a bigger segment of the Pearly Gates after hearing & reading so much about it, but it only took 5 minutes to climb through. Ice fall was minimal.
The last hour of this trek to the summit is the hardest: you’re tired from the previous 4 hrs. of climbing, the air keeps getting thinner and it just keeps getting steeper & steeper & ……..
I met Allen & Chris on the summit @ 8:15am. Allen had already been up for 15 minutes. It was awesome (this word has been much over-used in the last decade, but it really applies here). It would have been perfect if not for the 30 MPH wind & the cloud cover of much below. We snacked, drank, & shots pics of each other for 15 -30 minutes, before starting back down @ 8:30am. I’m glad I didn’t exert all that energy & not get to spend all of time I wanted to on top. I know a number of people who get to the top of a mountain & then immediately turn around and head right back down – this I will never understand.
Now began the most treacherous part – down climbing. This was made harder by the fact that my muscles had cooled down & started going to sleep. One wrong step going through the PGs or down the Hogsback & I was going to be in for a long high-speed glissade! Some groups were roped up, most weren’t. I guess there are advantages & disadvantages to both methods. It was a long climb down, but I made it back to my poles & the bottom of the Hogsback. I had tried to make some calls while on top, but CelluarOne registered ‘NO SERVICE’. This was strange, because as soon as I got to the bottom of the Hogsback, I had full signal strength! It was for the best because I wouldn’t have been able to hear anyone I was talking to due to the wind on top anyway.
After continuing down around Crater Rock, I came to my first Glissade chute. I watched a few others try it with limited success & decided I would continue down on foot for the time being.
I caught up with Allen & Chris at the ski drop. It was a clear sunny day & they were making the most of it, catching all the rays that they could & fueling up. After this brief pit-stop, we continued down – them on skis, me on my ass! I brought my snowboarding ‘Butt Pad’ with me so I would be able to sit down the following day. I caught a Glissade trail near us & rode it down for ~1000’. I was able to keep up with them for quite a while. My knees were grateful for the break also. After another ~1000’ the slope diminished & the snow turned back to slush, which prevented me from traveling any further down via this method. Next time I will start glissading at a higher altitude.
I came upon a group of Mazama’s taking/giving a rescue class @ about 6000’. Just as I got to them, I sunk up to my waist in a hidden mini-crevasse – they offered to rescue me. I wish I had thought to ask them to take a pic of me.
By the time I got to the bottom a little after 11am, I was soaked. My boots were no match for all the slush, even with gators & waterproofing. Allen & Chris were sitting in front of the car continuing their tanning session from above at the ski drop. I was sore & tired, but my sense of accomplishment made those conditions a non-issue.
One thing I forgot to do while I was on top, was to take a 360 deg. movie of the horizon – I guess I’ll just have to climb it again. I think it would be interesting to climb it in Sept. to get a comparison of how it looks w/ a minimal amount of snow/ice.
I want to thank Allen Light for basically acting as our guide on this climb & doing the driving.