Mount Blum via SE Ridge: Wet Boots and the First Summit Bivy

The price of admission is steep for this one. The approach is not for the faint of heart.

May 27 to 28, 2026

Climbing partner and I started from the Baker River 606 TH at 0530. We planned to bivy at the summit, something we haven’t found to be previously recorded. The trail is quickly lost under brush and forest. The trail is flagged at several key points, although they are weathered and difficult to notice in some instances. There are constant navigation traps where what looks like a perfectly good trail is actually wrong and leads you into a gully or cliff. Be mentally prepared to do a good bit of backtracking and route finding throughout the duration of this climb. I highly recommend at least two gpx maps if not more.

It is ~4500’ of steep gain in 3.5 short miles, then several boulder field traverses to Blum Lakes. From here, you wrap around the bottom lake, ascend the snowfield, and go up and over a couple ridges until you see the big alpine lake at the base of Blum.

Blum Lakes and Mount Blum

You wrap around to the opposite side of this lake and ascend the steep snow here until you reach a point where you can class 2/3 scramble up to the SE ridge. By now the snow was wicking straight through my boots, a detail I’d come to regret by morning.

Beginning the push from the frozen lake to the SE ridge

Look for cairns as loose guides. From here you ascend/traverse the ridge with some snow and some easy scrambling.

Small climber, big world. Baker Lake and Mount Baker beyond the ridge

Take the summit via the steep snow wall and arrive up top to what appears to be a massive knife edge on the north side. This area is heavily corniced, so proceed with extreme caution for your views.

Bundled against the wind on the summit

The snow conditions are very melted out. We brought crampons, but ended up not using them for the ascent or descent the next morning. The snow was still very slushy at 0600 when we started back towards the base. We both postholed several times within varied distances from rocks and boulders. A few could have been bone breakers with enough momentum or the wrong balance. If you think you’re on the wrong trail you probably are, and it helps to have strong navigation skills. We went back and forth to take mental breaks between navigation decisions, and that helped a lot. Our descent only took 7 hours including stopping for lots of sunrise pictures and about a 45 minute break at Blum Lakes just to chill. Ascent took 11-12 hours but we had full packs and planned to stay so we were in no rush. Lots of relaxing breaks and a nap or two.

Sunrise on the way down

We caught a lucky break with some ominous looking weather that blew away in the evening. We threaded the needle this week with the weather window too. No idea what conditions will be like after this storm, but the snow made for some cruiser ascent/descent. The overnight summit bivy was cold and epic. Baker and Shuksan were putting on a show. We hoped Fred Beckey would be proud. Stoke was very high for bagging this one.

Incredible alpenglow over the North Cascades from the bivy

A quick word on the title. Somewhere between the brush, the snowfields, and the slush, my boots had soaked clean through. At a freezing summit bivy, wet boots do exactly what you’d expect. By morning they were frozen into two solid bricks, laces and all. The mountain humbles you up high with its knife edge and its cornices. Then it humbles you all over again, at camp, with your own socks. Lesson logged: up here, dry feet are a religion, and waterproofing is not the place to cut corners. Send it, but send it with dry socks.

The real lesson of the climb. Dry socks are a religion up here

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