Got to have another amazing day on our favorite local mountain.
We opted for lightweight gear—not quite ultralight though compared to others. We roped up just above the Hogsback with a 30m RAD line and carried a second 30m rope as rescue backup, plus two full-size pickets. I wore my new Scarpa Ribelle Runs; Katelyn rocked her trusty Saucony Peregrines, which only had one hole in them. Our goal was to move fast, stay safe, and beat the women’s time on the south side Easton Glacier: 5:56.
Cooler temps this weekend meant we could sleep at home in Bellingham and start at a very reasonable 7:40 a.m. from the Heliotrope Trailhead. We both waivered at the TH if we were really going to spend our Saturday doing this kinda silly thing. But eventually we launched, jogging the first few miles and power hiking up to Hogsback Camp, which we reached in 53 minutes.
Transitioning took a minute, since we opted to gear up all at once—harness, rope, helmet, axe, crampons. Snow conditions were ideal: secure, crampon-friendly, and generally awesome. Snowbridges were solid, though a few crevasses near the pumice ridge/saddle with Colfax were open and overhung, requiring a little leap—but it all felt 100% fun. We passed one party descending from the pumice ridge, but otherwise had the Coleman-Deming route to ourselves.
On the summit plateau, we ran into two other small groups. We stood out with our trail runners, Breathe Right strips, and jogging-while-roped-up strategy. Got heckled a little too, but by that point any doubts from the trailhead were long gone. We reached the summit in 3 hours 30 minutes—right on pace and feeling solid.
The descent down the Roman Wall was still firm and not able to be plunged stepped as we hoped. Once we hit the Coleman glacier, we jogged everything we felt good about. I only yanked Katelyn onto her face maybe twice with my erratic pacing constantly scanning for cracks.
Back at Hogsback, we happily packed up our mountain gear. From there to the trailhead we passed a steady stream of hikers, dogs, climbers, and the WTA crew. We tried to be polite; I think people could tell we were on a mission and generally stepped out of the way. Katelyn decided that if anyone asked, we’d say we were late getting back to our kids (we don’t have kids).
The final miles were very runnable, and Katelyn pushed the pace home. Felt like a proud, solid push overall. Sure, we could’ve done a few things to shave more time—but honestly, it was a pretty perfect way to spend a Saturday morning.