view of Mount Baker from the lower Coleman Icefall
Because my foot and ankle injuries from Mount Maude had not fully healed yet, Elain and I decided to opt for a mellow day of ice cragging rather than an alpine climb. We decided to return to the lower Coleman Glacier icefall, a place where we had been ice climbing many times before. Since the approach for this climbing area is very easy, we figured it was least likely to aggravate my ankle and foot injuries. However, we did not consider that front-pointing through the icefall would be hard on my ankles. We invited Aaron Zabriskie to come along with us. Although he had wanted to do an alpine climb, Aaron graciously agreed to accompany us on this less exciting venture. Despite the nagging pain in my ankle, it was a great day of climbing. Elain practiced lead climbing on a moderate ice gully. Aaron had his second time lead climbing on ice.
view of Mount Baker from the lower Coleman Icefall
Aaron climbing a serac
Aaron festooned with ice climbing gear
Elain climbing
Elain climbing
Aaron lead climbing
Steve climbing a serac
Steve doing ropework in the icefall