Ascent of Mount Baker on 2010-01-05| Others in Party: | Petter Bjorstad
Paal Bjorstad
| | Date: | Tuesday, January 5, 2010 | | Ascent Type: | Successful Summit Attained | | Motorized Transport to Trailhead: | Taxicab | | Peak: | Mount Baker | | Location: | Uganda | | Elevation: | 15892 ft / 4843 m |
Ascent Trip ReportThis peak was climbed as part of the Bujuka circuit, the day after Margherita Peak (Mt Stanley). For details of the main trek see the Mount Stanley report
Leaving Kitandara hut at 07:11, our ascent starts almost immediately, through fairly dense forest with the usual stretches of bog, slippery tree routes, rock and the odd ladder. Fine views open up, across to the Mt Stanley peaks (including Margherita and Alexandra) and down into Congo. In 50mins we are at Freshfield Pass (4246m GPSr, 4280m / 14050ft on sign) which separates Baker from the Mt Luigi di Savoia group to the S. After a short break we head for Baker: a cairned route, initially a little boggy with interesting vegetation and a few rocky stretches with some scrambling. The first significant scrambling pitch is a steep gully. Above this, the terrain is dry and we swap our trusty rubber boots for mountaineering boots. At least, the other 3 do. I only have plastic boots and prefer to climb in my wellies, following the example of the guides, although they seem anxious that I take my plastic boots. To avoid upsetting them I carry this extra 2.9kg of pointless footwear to the summit and back. The wellies are absolutely fine for scrambling.
The route keeps generally L of the ridge, avoiding the first summit, crossing a notch, descending 15m, then ascending on rocky ground with several scrambling pitches, some of them quite interesting. Eventually we reach the crux: a 10m downclimb into a steep snow gully - exposed but with excellent holds - we don't use the rope. For the more slender climber, it is less exposed to keep close to the main face; however there is a more elegant but more exposed route on the outside. The snow is soft in the gully, approx 20m wide, easily crossed, with ice axe for security. Then a short slabby walk leads to the summit (signboard, shelter cairn and a triangulation marker "Rwenzori Geodetic Survey 2006" - one of the guides was present when the trig was placed. There's a fine view across to the Stanley group. At the summit my GPSr recorded N0-21-42 E29-53-35, 4849m. Semper peak, 4794m, just to the N, looks extremely fine: we are lucky to see it as the clouds come in after a few minutes and we head down. After the initial "crux", Sebestian keeps a little further L (higher) thereby avoiding one of the more tricky scrambles. We are back at Freshfield Pass at 13:00.
The remainder of the trek is described in the main Mount Stanley report |
| Summary Total Data | | Total Elevation Gain: | 3326 ft / 1012 m | | Total Elevation Loss: | 5006 ft / 1524 m | | Round-Trip Distance: | 6.2 mi / 10 km | | Grade/Class: | YDS 3 | | Quality: | 9 (on a subjective 1-10 scale) | | Route Conditions: | Unmaintained Trail, Exposed Scramble, Snow Climb | | Gear Used: | Ice Axe, Rope, Guide, Porters, Hut Camp | | Weather: | Pleasant, Calm, Partly Cloudy | | Ascent Statistics | | Gain on way in: | 2998 ft / 913 m | | Gain Breakdown: | Net: 2834 ft / 863 m; Extra: 164 ft / 49m | | Loss on way in: | 164 ft / 49 m | | Distance: | 1.9 mi / 3 km | | Route: | Normal route (S ridge) | | Start Trailhead: | Kintandara hut 13058 ft / 3980 m | | Time: | 7 Days | | Descent Statistics | | Loss on way out: | 4842 ft / 1475 m | | Loss Breakdown: | Net: 4514 ft / 1375 m; Extra: 328 ft / 99m | | Gain on way out: | 328 ft / 99 m | | Distance: | 4.3 mi / 7 km | | End Trailhead: | Guy Yeoman hut 11378 ft / 3468 m | | Time: | 2 Days |
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