The Mt. Rainier Adventure

Here's a post from the male afterthought of the blog (i.e. "...and a Guy")



July 10, 2010 - Our digs on the first night at IMG (International Mountain Guides) HQ. Two men to a tent: Dan Jones and John Wethey in one tent, Spencer and I in another. Wish we would have had those cots and electricity up on the mountain.



July 11, 2010 - The crew all geared up with packs between 35 - 50 lbs (I came home with about 5 lbs extra food) and ready to leave from the trailhead at Paradise Lodge (from left to right: Craig "CJ" John (guide), Josh McDowell (guide), Spencer Jones, John Wethey, Phil Ershler (lead guide), Dan Jones, Cole Burrows, Chris Burrows, Kate Reid, Anne Reid and me - not shown is Jason Edwards (guide) who joined us Monday morning). As you can see, there was snow right from the beginning. The day was clear and hot with very little wind. The elevation at Paradise is around 5400 ft. Our day-1 objective: climb to Camp Muir at 10,200 ft. - 4.5 miles from Paradise.



The hike up the first day was taken at a slow and steady pace with breaks about every hour and a half - pretty easy hiking. Although we were careful with sun block on our faces ans arms, Spencer and I got burns on the backs of our knees in the open space between the gaiters and shorts which we neglected (Spencer has the red pack, green shorts and black gaiters).



Here at our first break, we were all smiles and sweat in the heat of the day - Chris on the right and John hiding behind me without shirts, Dan ready to lose his.

















A good look at my glacier glasses about half way to Camp Muir. Another group passed us on their way down with report of a successful summit.


Getting closer...

John Wethey making his way with a great view below.


This is the luxurious "Gambu" hut at Camp Muir where we stayed the night on Sunday. There are two sides to the hut and we stayed on the right side. The ridge that it sits on offers spectacular views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Hood (in clear weather).


Inside the "Gambu" where we slept on two plywood tiers about four feet apart. There was a third level with extra IMG gear. They were kind enough to provide two foam pads per climber. The winds picked up Sunday night / Monday morning, so we were fortunate to have this shelter. All of the guided groups and independent climbers scheduled to summit that morning were denied due to the high winds.


A view of the whole gang outside of the "Gambu".

This is the weather port on the other side of Camp Muir from the "Gambu". It's got a steel frame making it nearly indestructible. The guides prepared our meals here and we also dined inside. We had navy bean soup, burritos (complete with guacamole) and hot drinks.

July 12, 2010 - We had an early morning training session on crampons, self-arresting with the ice axe and walking tied into a rope. Then, after a big breakfast of hash browns, bacon and sausage, we set out at about noon for the high camp in the Ingraham Flats, about 1,000 feet higher in elevation and 1 mile distance. The start of the trail is in the bottom-right of the picture. The trail starts to the left and then arcs to the right across the Cowlitz glacier.



This is a shot at the top of the Cowlitz where the trail leads to Cathedral Rocks and the Gap. We switchbacked through the rock field, short-roped two to a guide. The wind really began to pick up as we got higher. About 100 yards from the gap, Jason, one of the guides, was blown off the trail about 20 feet. Fortunately, Cole and Chris were able to arrest, as did Jason and they were able to recover and continue up the tail.



This is a picture of the guides at the camp in the Ingraham Flats discussing what to do. When we arrived, there was one tent flapping in the wind which had been destroyed. Two other tents were gone, blown off the mountain with only the guy lines reamining. The guides decided that staying would be a "struggle for survival" and would not allow us to rest for a chance at the summit. So, the guides led us back down to Camp Muir. Once there, 5 of the team decided to head down to Paradise with the forecast reaching us that high winds would persist through the night and into the late morning. Chris, Cole and I decided to hold on to hope of a miracle break in the weather for a remote chance to summit. We endured a rough night sleep in a tent outside of the weather port with super high winds ripping at our tent all night long. The winds proved too dangerous for another attempt. Two independent climbers made a futile attempt, but were turned around well short.



Here is a shot of the top from the Ingraham Flats. This one will keep me motivated to save the money to get back and bag the one that got away!



On the way down, I discovered the joy of glissading - sliding down the snow on your back side with pack providing some additional force downhill. I am sporting the garbage sack in this one. Glissading at every possible opportunity, made the descent go by really fast and softened the blow of the missed summit. What can I say? I'm just a big kid in a 30-something man's body!



And, the action shot...

I had a great adventure, but, Mt. Rainier and I have some unfinished business to settle. Stay tuned for the next chapter, which I hope will be sooner rather than later.