Baker/Rainier in early April?

Obviously it varies from year to year but what are conditions/weather generally like in early April? Going to be in the area, and have my eye on the North Ridge and/or skiing the Squak on Baker, and possibly doing the Kautz and/or skiing the Emmons on Rainier. Appreciate any beta for that time of year.

The main issue will be access. The Glacier Creek Rd on Baker will not be drivable to the Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead. Similar with the Emmons on Rainier, the White River Rd will be closed. So long approaches. Ascents in April on Rainier are mostly via Camp Muir because one can overnight in the shelter. If skiing most go for Furher Finger as it is more direct than Kautz.

58 Pages 25 threads per in the Mt Rainier forum on cascadeclimbers.com

Kautz season is usually much later than April, it won’t have any interesting ice climbing that early in the year.  Some years it’s still snowy in June, depending on snowpack.  As Allen said, the road to Emmons won’t be open in April.

Look at the Mountain Project ticks for these routes to get a better sense of when they are typically climbed.  Kautz doesn’t has a single April tick going back several years.

NPS has detailed route guides for all of the popular routes that describe the typical season, among other things.  The guide for the Kautz is here: https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/upload/Kautz-Glacier-Routebrief.pdf