Mount Rainier!

[Chip]

The altitude also was beginning to take its toll... I managed to get dizzy and fall over at one point and felt really bad!

If I can ask: Do you have any other altitude hikes planned before Denali, or some sort of acclimitization strategy once there ?

 

[Jimmy Legs and Little D]

A terrific report and and great pictures. A true adventure! After seeing the video of the maggots, I may start checking my food a bit more closely

Little D

 

[Hobbitling]

So after a trip like this, would you feel comfortable on a non-guided glacier/big mountain trip?

skillwise, Do you feel that you could organize and implement your own expedition up Ranier or a similar peak, assuming gear and money were not an issue?

 

[cbcbd]

So many mountains to climb, so little time!

You said it!

Good job on Rainier! It's definitively a good mountain to practice your high altitude chops on.

 

[The Lisa]

Nice going, Dangergirl and team! Glad you had such a great experience. It brought back such memories for me too

I found Rainier plus Aconcagua good training for attempting Denali unguided with two friends of mine. Granted we took the trade route up the West Buttress as we were definitely not skilled enough for say, navigating the Cassin Route, but we worked well as a team and summited Denali without mishap (we were ALMOST disappointed we had such an easy time of it).
Train hard this winter and you will have a great time on Denali.

 

[dangergirl]

As for boots, I have Spantiks and they were comfy from the parking lot. I thought about carrying my boot and wearing sneakers to camp but I didn't want to carry the extra weight. We all wore our boots from Paradise. It was not bad and there was not much dirt, mostly snow to hike on.
As for a guided trip, we did this trip unguided. We have taken two mountaineering courses in Alaska to prepare us for an unguided trip up Rainier. To be honest with you, if you have a good understanding of glacial travel, winter camping, and are comfortable navigating Rainier is not that hard to do unguided. If weather came in there were plenty of wands to follow, but be sure to ask the rangers if the route is wanded or not. They will tell you what to bring with you for wands and protection. I prefer having an unguided trip because it is way more challenging and fun. The hard part for us is finding others who want to climb the same mountains.
For Denali we are using a guide because we don't know enough people to climb it with unguided. I am using a personal trainer from Seattle right now and it seems to be working well. She is kicking my butt, but I am sure it will pay off on Denali!

 

[SherpaKroto]

Congrats! Rainier is, indeed, a magical place to be: start to finish.