A weekend trip to climb Mt Rogers in Glacier National Park
(the Canadian one ;)
We had planned to make this a Canada day weekend trip by the weather forecast for this area was terrible. We opted to wait and on this weekend the weather was much more agreeable.
Waking up in this place... Heaven
Since this was the second week of July it was pretty important to get up early for the climb. So in traditional alpine start fashion we had alarms set to 2:45 am. This far west in the time zone the sky is full of pre dawn light at this hour. By 3:30 we were on our way through the alpine heather on our way to the headwall up onto the Swiss Glacier.
We continued up into the rocky talus and approached a snowy ribbon that would be our way up onto the glacier. We walked as far as we could and then stopped to put on crampons. The climb up the frozen summer snow was simple and much easier than walking up on the rock.
After about an hour of walking we were finally on the glacier and were able to see our objective, which at this point was obscured in clouds. We made out way up the edge of the ice following an exposed outcrop of rock. Finally we were moving onto the main part of the glacier. It was time to rope up...
...because there are real hazards on the glacier.
In order to get onto the main headwall up Mt Rogers we had to cross the Bergschrund. This is the term given to the chasm that opens up where a glacier meets a steep wall. In this case it was mostly bridged and we were able to crawl across. Then it was 45 minutes of climbing up the headwall, a 40 degree snow slope.
Finally we reached Rogers Col and it was time for a quick snack and a shadow selfie before heading up the summit ridge.
We followed this other group heading for the summit. There was only one route up so we were more than happy to let some younger guys break trail.
The other group was reaching the summit just as we hit the crux of the climb. The final 150m along the summit ridge is quite exposed and most groups use a running belay.
We followed in the tracks left by the first group. It was a simple matter of one foot in front of the other and don't fall.
After about 20 minutes of careful steps we were on the summit. There was enough room for four of us to chat about the climb and take a couple photos. The weather was pretty unstable so we didn't spend long on the summit. Taking advantage of the good visibility to get back down off the summit ridge.
From there it was a couple hours back to camp before packing up and heading down the short steep trail to the truck. I highly recommend the hike and camp at The Hermit. This makes a great basecamp for a number of the climbs in this area.