July Turns: Steamboat Prow and the Inter Glacier
DATE HIKED:7/5/24
TOTAL MILEAGE: 12 MILES
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 5,300’
During our Olympus climb Sander, Dan, and I talked about trying to climb/ski Mt. Rainier via the Emmons Glacier during the long Fourth of July weekend if the conditions were right. We thought it would be the perfect cherry on top of an incredible ski season. Unfortunately, the conditions were not right and a huge heat wave was forecasted to sweep through the state with highs in the 80s and 90s over the weekend and a freezing level above 16,000’. We didn’t want to climb the mountain during such an intense period of heat but we also didn’t want to let a long weekend go by without at least a little adventure so we pivoted to a day trip to Steamboat Prow and a ski of the Inter Glacier. This would take us to ~9,650’, give us an up close look of the Emmons Glacier, and we would get to squeeze some July turns in (my first July turns ever!) Sander ended up not joining so it was just me, Alex, and Dan for the trip!
We decided to go on July 5th, which made for a comical moment when our alarms went off at 2:10AM and fireworks were still going on from the 4th festivities. We knew it was going to be hot so we wanted to start the tour by 5AM which meant we needed to leave Seattle by 3AM.
We arrived to the Glacier Basin trailhead just before 5AM and the sun was already rising. Turns out we wouldn’t need those headlamps we packed! We loaded our packs and hit the trail. Knowing it would be about four miles before we hit snow we hiked in trail runners and kept our skis and boots on our packs.
The trail was so lovely. It’s wide, soft, and the most perfect grade that lends itself to quick and easy miles. As we hiked we got peek-a-boo views of Mt. Rainier and Little Tahoma glowing orange in the morning light but for the most part we hiked in the cover of trees. It may have been early but it was already warm and I was thankful for our early departure and the shade.
We hit the end of the maintained trail after an hour and a half of hiking and made our way onto the steep moraine. Across the Inter Fork we could see plenty of ski tracks winding their way down the slopes.
At 7:20, after a little over two hours of hiking, we hit consistent snow. I was so thankful to have my skis and boots off my pack and on my feet instead, my pack felt noticeably lighter. We crossed the river on a solid snow bridge and started skinning. We had 3,000’ ahead of us and I assumed it would take us 2.5 hours.
The snow was already so soft and it made for interesting skinning conditions. Traversing the slopes was difficult, the snow was slick and my downhill ski kept losing grip and sliding. I tried lowering the angle of my skin track, but still my ski slipped and every drop of my foot was followed by a drop in my heart. The snow was also soft enough that crampons wouldn’t have been much help so I decided to call it and just switch to booting. It may be slightly more inefficient but at least my adrenaline wouldn’t keep spiking every time I slipped! Alex and Dan muscled through and continued skinning but I was happy in my comfort zone of booting straight uphill.
The views were spectacular. Alex and I had completed this tour in 2021 during the infamous June heat dome and the high heat made the surrounding landscape very hazy at the time. This year, at the very onset of a heat wave, the sky was still clear and we had beautiful views of Baker, Shuksan, and Glacier Peak to the north sitting atop a bed of layered foothills.
Up, up, up we went. We could see Steamboat Prow just up ahead of us and it looked so close but then I would check Gaia and see we were still 1,800’ away, 1,200’ away, 700’ away. Finally, I crested the ridge and was atop Steamboat Prow. I looked at my watch, exactly 2.5 hours has passed since we started the climb, my estimate was spot on!
From Steamboat Prow we had a front row seat to the Emmons Glacier route and Camp Schurman. The Emmons Glacier has the largest area of any glacier in the lower 48 and from our viewpoint its size and mass were impressive. Huge, gaping crevasses gouged the glacier, massive icefalls poured from its slopes, and in the midst of it all tiny climbing parties appeared like ants on the slopes. I couldn’t stop staring at the mountain but the snow was getting softer with every minute that ticked by. We took in the scene as much as we could, ate a quick lunch, and transitioned our skis to downhill mode.
The snow was already so wet and so sloppy but we had about 3,000’ of skiing ahead of us and it was July, so I couldn’t complain too much!
My turns down the Inter Glacier were not pretty. My tiny, light-as-air volcano skis were tough to drive through the slop and in addition to the sloppy snow conditions we also had rocks to dodge. Alex and Dan whizzed down the slope but I stopped often to give my legs a rest.
Just 30 minutes of skiing later we made it back to our trail runners we had tucked away in the rocks by the snow line. A splitboarder continued down the right side of the Inter Fork to get a few more turns in but I knew that crossing the river lower down was sketchy. It was tougher to find a solid snow bridge and it was wider. We may have missed out on a few hundred more feet of skiing but it felt safer to cross the river up high and walk the moraine back down to the main trail.
Hiking down the Glacier Basin trail was even easier than hiking up and the miles passed quickly under our feet. We weren’t hiking straight back to the car though, we had a fun detour planned!
A mile from the trailhead we took a right onto the Emmons Moraine trail, crossed the Inter Fork again (via bridge this time), and made our way down to a brilliant blue lake just a tenth of a mile away. The lake is unnamed on the map but I’ve always wanted to check it out. Taking a dip in the lake after a hot day on the mountain turned out to be the perfect decision. The water was cold but not so cold that we couldn’t spend time in it floating and swimming and cooling off. It was tough to pull ourselves away from the lake but eventually we got out, dried off, and completed the final mile of trail.
The trip turned out to be the most perfect summer day. A morning spent hiking and skiing and gazing at Rainier and an afternoon spent cooling off in a beautiful lake. I couldn’t have dreamt up a better way to spend a hot summer day!
*****
