dangergirl
Active member
Five of us headed out to Seattle, WA on August 1, 2009 to attempt to climb Mount Rainier (Brett, John, Don, Aaron, and myself). We spent our first night in a hotel in Tukwila and then headed out to some shops to pick up some gear. I picked up my new sleeping bag from Feathered Friends and couldn't wait to use it! We also hit up REI for some last minute stuff before driving to Whittaker Bunkhouse to pack and spend the night.
The bunkhouse was really cool! There were a bunch of beds in this nice airy room. We packed our packs and had a good nights sleep. Early that morning we got up and drove to Paradise at Mount Rainier where we picked up our permit and headed up the Skyline trail. It was a beautiful trail surrounded by wildflowers, streams, and awesome views of Mount Rainier. There were huge waterfalls off in the distance too. We then made our way onto the Muir snowfield and did the long slog up to camp. It was extremely hot so we hiked up in shorts. Our boots and gaiters were a bit much for the climb but we didn't feel like carrying the boots up to camp Muir.
When we got to Camp Muir I was shocked to see how dirty it felt. There was a lot of dust that had blown over camp, making the snow brown. There were smelly toilets up there, a ranger hut, and some other huts. Definitely not the remote camping experience I usually have, but it was still neat to see. We set up our tents and bivy and then decided to wake up at 11pm and be on the trail by midnight.
After only a couple of hours of sleep we got up and had breakfast, roped up, and were on the trail by midnight. We had a full moon which was really nice because it gave us better visibility. It was really strange hiking in the dark on a glacier!
We walked over to Cathedral Gap which was a loose scree field an struggled up it because of being roped together. We then got back on the the glacier and hiked up past Ingraham Flats. It was quite windy when we reached the flats. We took a break here and then continued up to the Cleaver. On our way there we had to hop over many crevasses and cross some pretty narrow ledges that had hand lines. The Cleaver was a scree scramble, just like the gap. We managed to get a bit lost by going right instead of left and had one spicy section before we found the correct part of the cleaver again. At that point one of our team mates became ill from the altitude and we had to descend back to camp. We got back to Camp Muir with hopes of him feeling better, but he got worse so he hiked out with a guided party and got a ride back to Seattle. We were now down to four people.
The remaining four of us hung around camp and got an early night sleep. We woke up at 11pm and then were on the trail at 12:38am. We hiked roped up to the Gap and then unroped until we got back onto the Ingraham. We hopped all the crevasses and made our way onto the Cleaver where we unroped again to make travel easier. When we hit the snow again we roped up and made our way off of the Cleaver which was quite interesting. There was a hand line, a narrow ledge, and some crevasses to navigate. Then began the slog to the summit. The sun just started to come up as we neared the top. The altitude also was beginning to take its toll. We had a couple of smaller crevasses to jump and then a huge one with a tiny ice shelf to hop onto. We didn't know if it would hold, but it did. Then we were on the final section that took us to the summit. I managed to get dizzy and fall over at one point and felt really bad! Before we knew it we were standing in the summit crater and looking at the true summit. We unroped and at 7am were standing on the summit together! It was quite the push! We took a quick break and then headed back down. It was so cold and windy up top we did not want to hang out there long. As we descended we all started to feel better. We took our time and enjoyed the views and the terrain. Brett even got a nice action shot jumping over a crevasse! We also saw a huge rock blow off the Gilbralter Ledges that was about the size of a car! There was so much rockfall in this place it was amazing! We got back to camp at 11am and had lunch and packed up to go. As we were leaving we saw an exploding stove in camp (never use a heat shield on a canister stove) so we gave them ours to have.
On our way down the snowfield (we were unroped because there is supposed to be no crevasse danger). Don fell into a crevasse with one leg and Brett fell into a crevasse up to his waist with both legs on the snowfield! So much for a safe dayhike! They were both okay, but we were a bit leary on the way down. Apparently these crevasses opened up the day after we hiked up to Muir.
We had a fun jot down to the car and then celebrated with dinner. We got a hotel in Tacoma and then the next day drove up to Mt Baker area in the northern cascades. We stayed at the Douglas Fir campground and it was really pretty! We did the Chain Lakes Loop trail up near Baker and Shuksan but did not have views due to cloud cover. It was still a super fun hike! We spent one more night in the campground after getting a lovely dinner with maggot swimming in the salad vinegar and stuff floating in the oil.
We drove back to Seattle, dropped of Brett and John at the airport and by chance Don and I found this amazing restaurant called Palisade to have dinner at. It was super fancy, right on the ocean, and had a stream inside with fish, lobster, starfish, and sea urchins. It was so fancy they put our napkins on our laps for us and handed me a chilled fork for my salad! We felt like kings even though we looked like dirty climbers! We drove back to Seattle to catch our flight home that had several hours of violent turbulence. I was sad it was all over!
Here is a link to the pics:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfolcik/sets/72157621991521868/
The bunkhouse was really cool! There were a bunch of beds in this nice airy room. We packed our packs and had a good nights sleep. Early that morning we got up and drove to Paradise at Mount Rainier where we picked up our permit and headed up the Skyline trail. It was a beautiful trail surrounded by wildflowers, streams, and awesome views of Mount Rainier. There were huge waterfalls off in the distance too. We then made our way onto the Muir snowfield and did the long slog up to camp. It was extremely hot so we hiked up in shorts. Our boots and gaiters were a bit much for the climb but we didn't feel like carrying the boots up to camp Muir.
When we got to Camp Muir I was shocked to see how dirty it felt. There was a lot of dust that had blown over camp, making the snow brown. There were smelly toilets up there, a ranger hut, and some other huts. Definitely not the remote camping experience I usually have, but it was still neat to see. We set up our tents and bivy and then decided to wake up at 11pm and be on the trail by midnight.
After only a couple of hours of sleep we got up and had breakfast, roped up, and were on the trail by midnight. We had a full moon which was really nice because it gave us better visibility. It was really strange hiking in the dark on a glacier!
We walked over to Cathedral Gap which was a loose scree field an struggled up it because of being roped together. We then got back on the the glacier and hiked up past Ingraham Flats. It was quite windy when we reached the flats. We took a break here and then continued up to the Cleaver. On our way there we had to hop over many crevasses and cross some pretty narrow ledges that had hand lines. The Cleaver was a scree scramble, just like the gap. We managed to get a bit lost by going right instead of left and had one spicy section before we found the correct part of the cleaver again. At that point one of our team mates became ill from the altitude and we had to descend back to camp. We got back to Camp Muir with hopes of him feeling better, but he got worse so he hiked out with a guided party and got a ride back to Seattle. We were now down to four people.
The remaining four of us hung around camp and got an early night sleep. We woke up at 11pm and then were on the trail at 12:38am. We hiked roped up to the Gap and then unroped until we got back onto the Ingraham. We hopped all the crevasses and made our way onto the Cleaver where we unroped again to make travel easier. When we hit the snow again we roped up and made our way off of the Cleaver which was quite interesting. There was a hand line, a narrow ledge, and some crevasses to navigate. Then began the slog to the summit. The sun just started to come up as we neared the top. The altitude also was beginning to take its toll. We had a couple of smaller crevasses to jump and then a huge one with a tiny ice shelf to hop onto. We didn't know if it would hold, but it did. Then we were on the final section that took us to the summit. I managed to get dizzy and fall over at one point and felt really bad! Before we knew it we were standing in the summit crater and looking at the true summit. We unroped and at 7am were standing on the summit together! It was quite the push! We took a quick break and then headed back down. It was so cold and windy up top we did not want to hang out there long. As we descended we all started to feel better. We took our time and enjoyed the views and the terrain. Brett even got a nice action shot jumping over a crevasse! We also saw a huge rock blow off the Gilbralter Ledges that was about the size of a car! There was so much rockfall in this place it was amazing! We got back to camp at 11am and had lunch and packed up to go. As we were leaving we saw an exploding stove in camp (never use a heat shield on a canister stove) so we gave them ours to have.
On our way down the snowfield (we were unroped because there is supposed to be no crevasse danger). Don fell into a crevasse with one leg and Brett fell into a crevasse up to his waist with both legs on the snowfield! So much for a safe dayhike! They were both okay, but we were a bit leary on the way down. Apparently these crevasses opened up the day after we hiked up to Muir.
We had a fun jot down to the car and then celebrated with dinner. We got a hotel in Tacoma and then the next day drove up to Mt Baker area in the northern cascades. We stayed at the Douglas Fir campground and it was really pretty! We did the Chain Lakes Loop trail up near Baker and Shuksan but did not have views due to cloud cover. It was still a super fun hike! We spent one more night in the campground after getting a lovely dinner with maggot swimming in the salad vinegar and stuff floating in the oil.
We drove back to Seattle, dropped of Brett and John at the airport and by chance Don and I found this amazing restaurant called Palisade to have dinner at. It was super fancy, right on the ocean, and had a stream inside with fish, lobster, starfish, and sea urchins. It was so fancy they put our napkins on our laps for us and handed me a chilled fork for my salad! We felt like kings even though we looked like dirty climbers! We drove back to Seattle to catch our flight home that had several hours of violent turbulence. I was sad it was all over!
Here is a link to the pics:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kfolcik/sets/72157621991521868/
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