On May 25, 2025, I set out to climb Mount Baker with my friends Yuanlong and Yudi. We did not stand on the summit that day, but the mountain still gave us a story worth keeping.
01 · A MOUNTAIN FROM THE AIR
Before the Climb
The journey began with another Cascade volcano appearing beyond the airplane window.
Yuanlong, Yudi, and I had decided to climb before the dawn and try for the summit of Mount Baker. The weather would decide how far that plan could carry us.
02 · FIRST LIGHT
Sunrise on Mount Baker
As night loosened its hold, the North Cascades emerged in layers of snow, rock, and warm light.
For a while, the climb felt suspended between night and morning. The sky turned peach and gold above the ridgelines, and every pause revealed a little more of the vast country around us.
03 · THE TURNAROUND
Into the Fog
The mountain changed quickly near our summit push, and continuing no longer felt like the right choice.
Dense fog closed around us as we climbed higher. With visibility fading, the three of us chose to turn back. It was disappointing to leave the summit unfinished, but it was also an easy decision to respect: on a glaciated mountain, returning safely matters more than forcing an objective.
The summit remained somewhere beyond the whiteout, yet the day was far from empty. We shared the uncertainty, watched sunrise from high on the mountain, and came home with a deeper respect for the conditions.
We did not reach the summit, but we returned with something more lasting: good judgment, shared trust, and a sunrise I will not forget.