2 years since Jimbo and myself topped out on Rainier. I wanted to write about that experience since then just to be able to look back and remind myself about it before time wiped away some of the details.
Day 1- June 13th, 2018
My dad and I took off from the condo on the 12th of June. We loaded up the Beast with a couple of totes full of my hiking/ climbing gear and headed for the REI in Tacoma off 38th street. My dad got himself a buff, and I got some snacks and batteries for my headlamp. We then headed to i-5, down 512, then onto Pacific Ave and drove out towards Ashford. It was a very sunny mid- June day. Weather forecasts in mid- June are always a crap-shoot in western Washington, and that is before you take in the potential weather effects of mountains. This particular day was nice enough we drove down HWY 7 in t-shirts, shorts and the with the windows down. I remember I had that homesick feeling almost immediately once we were on the road. Obviously I was nervous because of the excitement of the climb, but I was also nervous because it was mid June, and even in the best of conditions Mt Rainier is a deadly place to go.
 | ||||||||
| Two very pale Webber boys on i-5 just after leaving REI We had a 3pm meeting at the RMI headquarters in Ashford. We checked in with the guides and they gave us the okay to start to unpack. We went to the bar and got ourselves a couple beers before we began anything.
Climbers and guides slowly trickled as 3pm rolled around. We had a team meeting where we went around and everyone introduced themselves and talked about why they wanted to climb Rainier. People were from all over the country. My dad and I were the only true local guys. My reason for climbing Rainier was because I looked at it my whole childhood and wanted to appreciate it from another perspective. My dads reasoning was he had been stopped short of the top nearly 30 years prior and was going to get it this time. We were not the only other father- son duo. There were two other father-son duos. We would be the only duo to both make it to the top.
There we went over the route and they went over the schedule for the next 3 days. Around 6pm we were free to do what we needed to do. Jim and I got a bunch of snacks at the little gas station in town and went to find our cabin we had rented.
Day 2- June 13th, 2018
Around 8am we met back at the RMI camp in Ashford. It still felt like I had forgotten something I should have packed, even though this was only the training day. Jim and I shuffled into the RMI cafe which was packed with a bunch of climbers getting ready for summit days and training days. I ordered some tea and a bagel. On the walls were relics of the Whittaker brothers legendary expeditions. Oxygen masks from the original American Everest Expedition, ice axes from the 1940's. Pictures of mountain tops all over the world. One of those places that exists that is a sort of Mecca of climbing. Jim and I walked out to see what the climbing report had been for the mountain. No one had been able to make the summit in over 2 weeks. Some of the teams ran into such bad weather they did not even make it to Camp Muir at just over 10000'. That would be a serious let down, but it was June. This was Rainier. It creates its own weather. The weather can only be guessed at best. It had been less than ideal. We met with the people who would be on our rope teams and we all got on a bus and drove into the park. It was about 45 minutes until we got to Paradise. Most of the people we were climbing with had not even seen Rainier yet. They missed it on the drive in the day prior from SeaTac as it was a cloudy day even though it was warm. I could feel the excitement in the bus but it was also raining and I knew that meant we would likely be fogged in. As the bus rolled over the Nisqually bridge beneath Paradise you could catch a glimpse of the Nisqually glacier. A lot of the climbers were impressed with that alone. That was the first sense I got that many of them did not truly understand how big Mt Rainier was. We all got off the bus at Paradise and waited for a truck and trailer to drop off our gear. It was dumping rain at 5,400'. People looked miserable but I knew if we hiked up a bit we would get out of it and into the flakes. We hiked up for maybe a half hour and found a nice hill and basin area that would be our training grounds. We were still stuck in the clouds somewhere around 6000'     |
We learned about the rest step, pressure breathing, the use of rope travel, how to correctly use an ice axe, and how to use crampons. I was familiar with most of these techniques, but not the rope travel. It was pretty smooth thought, learning how to clip in and out of the carabiners which where screwed into the snow via an ice screw. The people I was on the ropes with were all new to it as well but we worked it out nicely. Everyone was keen to learn and focused so it worked out nicely. We all were about the same pace and so no one was getting tossed around, that would come on the big day. As the day warmed up, the rain would come up to us and we were all soaked by the time we came back down to Paradise. We hid out in the visitor's center until around 3:30 as we waited for the bus to pick us up and take us back to Ashford.
We headed back to our cabin around 5pm and repacked our bags for the final time. I thought I had packed a lot of food for myself. We needed to pack enough food that we could eat a quick 200-300 calories every hour while climbing. I had a lot of snickers and cliff bars to serve this purpose. Meanwhile, Jimbo had literally so much food it was hilarious to me. I figured better safe than sorry but to me I figured there was no way he was going to be able to consume all of it because of the elevation causing a bit of nausea. We checked out each others gear one final time. It still felt like we were going to forget a vital piece of equipment regardless. I was very excited but just forced myself to sleep.
Day 3- 6/14/2018
Final fresh faces before alpine exposed sunlight would cook us:
Again we met at the HQ for RMI around 8 am. The trip to the cafe was just as fun the second day, but this time we ate with fellow climbers who we had met during our training session the day prior. After a short team meeting we dumped our diligently packed packs into a truck and hopped on the bus. This was the big day where the strong climbers and the weak climbers would show their abilities. It was going to be a long haul. I checked my phone and it said rain all day. I looked back at the reports posted on the board and the team ahead of us had made the summit on our training day. That was good news, but it also scared me. How was the upper mountain when we had been fogged in down below?
We huddled up underneath a wet tent with the summit day flag next to it. Everyone was very excited even though weather was less than ideal. I was just hoping for the best.
A 45 minute bus ride up to Paradise for the final time this trip. The rain had let up but it was windy, wet, and cold at Paradise. Sitting at 5400', Paradise is the most popular area in the entire park, but it was nearly empty on this foggy morning. I grabbed my pack out of the truck and threw it on the snow while I waited for people to get ready. I figured that I would have plenty of time with it on my back later on.
We got together and we marched in typical alpine fashion, like ants in a line. Although we were under the clouds, the temperature was in the mid 40's which made the ascent to Muir very pleasant. It was a light mist as we walked through the clouds, my fleece shirt was collecting the moisture like I had left it out during a night and the dew had collected. I felt very good physically and mentally, the 40lbs on my back was heavy initially but once I started to get a sweat going the pack got lighter and the fog was keep the sun off of us. Although not under sunlight, I know that alpine air and snow reflection can look the skin off your face and limbs like an oven. I was covered as much as I could with sunscreen and was breathing the air through my buff. It was collecting mositure as I breathed and the mountain wind would keep it very cold on my lips. It kept me alert as my dad and I hung out at the back of the line.
We would stop for breaks every hour. I had done the route to Camp Muir several times without guides. I knew where we were, both in elevation and distance the entire day as I had an altimeter on my wrist to help with the mental aspect of the climb. I wanted to know where I was vertically so that I could mentally prepare for what laid above.
 |
| No one who traveled in had seen Rainier in her entirety at this point |
I knew just how big Rainier was above the clouds. The climb to Muir is not so tame that you can have a friendly conversation as you approach the camp. So there was very limited talking between anyone at this point. We had probably been climbing for around 3 hours before we began to ascend above the cloud coverage. This was totally ideal as the clouds had been keeping the sun off of us for hours and I am sure that it saved many of us the energy and exposure that might have made the summit push more difficult.
Once we popped out of the clouds, Rainier could be seen in its entirety. Everyone stopped to take pictures. Not a cloud above us. The only thing above us was ice and rock. Below us only clouds and peaking out in the distance were the other volcanoes in the Cascade range.
 |
| Popping above the clouds, no longer on Earth |
 |
| Sky, rock, and ice |
 |
| Adams in the distance |
 |
| Our guide lead guide Mike |
Now the cloud coverage did save us, but the elevation gain did not go anywhere. People's fitness were exposed once we were exposed to the sun. Some people began to slow down. Hours of walking directly up hill, 40 to 50lbs on their shoulders, and the elevation were starting to take the toll on those who were not as prepared. The guides were silently watching all of us, seeing who was strong, who was not, making mental notes. For a long time I wondered what they thought of me. What did they think of my dad? We were in the back of the line, but we were keeping pace, talking, and not falling off the main group.
I think the guides pushed the pace to Muir, to really see who was going to be a liability on the upper mountain. It was an interesting thing to be a part of. They used all their observations to create the rope teams for the next part of the mountain. Several hours of walking uphill to get to Muir was never going to be easy, but it is made less so if you know how far out you can spot Muir's huts. Easily over an hour and a half away you can spot it. It is an unique experience to hike like that, being able to spot your destination from so far away. The Muir Snowfield is a total mind game. You will walk for 20 minutes and it will appear to have gotten no closer. Our arrival to Muir was a welcomed one, because I knew the heavy lifting was done. I was not going to have to carry a lot of the gear in my pack to the summit. But Muir was all I knew, after this it was totally unknown. I had never been on glaciated slopes before. This was the mountain that people who climbed Everest trained on, because the terrain is so similar. But Muir was a success for me in itself. For everyone else it was as well, as some of the slower climbers trickled in over the next hour, most looking totally beat.
The views at Muir, on a clear day, are all time.
 |
| Natural pillows of stone |
 |
| one of the private huts at Muir |
Once at Muir, it was around 3pm. We had nine hours until we had to be awake and rested from the Muir push. Jim and I were all about hydration. At elevation, your mind and body are totally out of wack. At 10000', there is about half the oxygen that there is at sea level. Your brain and muscles have to work twice as hard to do the same. At 10000', you also need to consume an additional liter of water a day, and that is before you calculate in any exercise. I knew my body really struggles to hold water, so while many were drinking every hour break from their Nalgene bottles, I had a camelback that I was sipping from the entire climb to Muir. I also took electrolyte tablets to try and stay ahead of my salt loss from sweating. I was buggered from the hike to Muir, but not beaten. I knew I would be recovered by the end of the day. I dont take much food to run my body either, but even I knew I had to over eat for what I had already done and was going to do the next day. I had some freeze dried food but could only get about half of it down before becoming nauseous. My dad gladly ate what I could not, in addition to his inane amount of food. Granted he is a bigger guy than I am so it takes more fuel. I chugged some more water and climbed into the bunkhouse.
 |
| Not sure who was more tired at this point |
I opened my sleeping quit, I didnt take a sleeping bag because it would have weighed a little bit more and I wanted to cut weight. My quilt basically is the same but it has no "back" so my back was on my sleeping pad. I was perfectly warm even though outside the hut would drop into the negatives. We held one last big team meeting before they told us who would lead each of our rope teams. They put me with Jim. I wondered for a second why they would do that if there was an accident. But I was glad to have him because I knew if I had a problem with him I could communicate easily. There was also going to be a man named Josh with us, as well as our guide, Matias. Although I was excited for the summit day, I was eager to sleep because I knew the more rest I got the better chance I would have at reaching the top.
Sleeping in a 15’x15’ room with 20 other people sure is hard. Add in the fact that at 10k feet it’s almost impossible to sleep well, you’re brain is hurting for oxygen. It’s hard enough to stand up and go pee without feeling like you can’t breathe. It’s an eerie feeling. Jim was also sleeping 12” away from my face and every time I would fall into a deep sleep he would start snoring and I would shove him to shut him up. In total I might have gotten an hour of deep sleep, it was a long night. Luckily, when climbing mountains, nights end early. Mt Rainier is no exception.
Day 4- 6/15/2018
Its midnight. I laid out all my gear before I went to bed so I could easily access in my sleepy morning state. I filled up my water bottle, put my helmet on, ate some cliff bar, threw on my heavy boots and stepped out into the darkness. I was immediately stoke when the hut doors closed behind me and I could see the entire universe above me. A clear sky. One of the best starscapes I had even seen. To this day its still the best I have seen. I was ready to rock and roll and was eager. I waited for all the other teams to assemble. People were trying to figure out how to put crampons on, guides were checking people's gear. I was all roped up and freezing my ass off. It might have been clear but it was windy and it was hitting me hard. I waited for our guide to help some climbers with crampons.
 |
| In a light fleece like Jim, single digits in the wind, but I had on big ski gloves |
 |
| Jim and Matias work on his avalanche beacon |
The guide, Matias, put the rope team together in this order. In the front he put Josh, then myself, then Jim, then himself. I wasnt sure how they ordered us in terms of strength. Or maybe they put all the weak people on one rope team in hopes they can turn the entire team around at once. Regardless, I felt great physically. It was like Christmas morning. Donning axes, crampons, helmets and rope, we led the traverse across the Cowlitz Glacier with the only light coming from our headlamps. This bit of the route I had seen before, never climbed it, but I had sat at Muir and watched climbers come across it. Its basically just a traverse across a giant basin, there are crevasses below you several hundred feet but the trail is pretty straightforward. The distance of it, was something I had not really noticed before. It was relatively smooth snow under my feet and not unlike anything below Muir. It just had crevasses below it, but I could not see more than 20 feet in front of myself in the dark so I did not think about that.
 |
| the route, except we took a variation of this route |
The concept of time was totally out the window. I mean we were planning to stop every hour and fifteen minutes for food and water, so that was all I was really focusing on. Just making it to the next leg of the route. Somewhere along the Cowlitz traverse, Josh was struggling with one of his crampons. It seemed like it was not fitted onto his boot correctly, and he had to adjust it as he walked every couple of minutes. I could see him struggling by the movement of his headlamp 15' in front of me. Our pace was pretty good, and it was just a beautiful night out.
Once we finished the traverse, we were finished with what seemed to be normal earth. The winding steps through Cathedral Gap were not of Earth. Icy fins grew out of rock. Angular spikes and wind blasted ice and snow show out in all directions. I could see no more than 20 feet in front me with my headlamp but it was like a scene from a science fiction novel. It was a cold and dead place we were headed into. Josh continued to struggle with his crampons. The lead guide, Mike, was one rope team ahead of us, and we were following his team. We came over an edge and were about 10 feet away from a rock cliff that seemly had no bottom. That was the moment for me that I realized how truly exposed we were. The guides called both of our teams back to the route. We continued through fields of ice sculptures carved by wind, thaw, and avalanches. I knew where we were along the route because I had looked at the route enough times. After the cliff moment a few minutes prior, I could not help to feel that we were walking along an alien fin with cliffs on both sides. In reality, that is exactly what it was as I would late find out. In the dark though, it was mostly touch and go until we had made it to the Ingraham flats where we stopped for our first break.
 |
| Jim at Ingraham Flats. 1st Break |
The first leg above Muir blew my mind. The creative nature of nature displayed on the rock and ice is other worldly. I was feeling great. I was not wearing much gear and was staying warm. Within 30 seconds of stopping, however, the sweat on my body cooled, and I was frozen. I threw my pack on the ground, anchored it with my axe, pulled out my water and down jacket. I threw on the jacket zipped it up to try and save some body heat. My handles fumbled to open the lid of my bottle and I shook and I downed about half a nalgene, I had two of them and was going to drink half a liter a break. I ate half a snickers bar. It took a lot of effort to even eat that much. At this altitude my stomach was not happy. My body's chemical balance was off a bit. I was over working and not being able to drink water and sip it as I moved was starting to hurt me. The camelback would be frozen in minutes on this part of the mountain. I laid on my pack in my jacket. Hands in my arm pits for 15 minutes. I looked to my dad. He had his jacket on but he did not seem to be suffering at the same level I was. But he has more meat on his bones than I do. Our bodies were cooking while we were moving but when we stopped it was excruciating to turn into popsicles. About 5 minutes before we were set to leave, I looked up the mountain and saw Josh un-clip from the rope. He said he was going down. I could not believe it. I dont know if it was because of the crampon issue or what. It just seemed so early to be turning around. I was so dead set on making the top, I assumed other people were going to be the same. It was never going to be about the cost of the trip. The last thing you think about when you feel like you are no longer on Earth, is the price it cost to get there. Our guide, Matias, unclipped from the rope as well, he said he was going to be leading a team back to Muir. To my surprise there were a lot of other people who had had enough. I think it was the fact that they just never recovered from the climb to Muir. This was the first wave of people that turned around. Id say about one third of the entire group of climbers left down the mountain as we headed up.
The new rope team looked like this: Jesse, the guide, myself, Jim, then a guy named Brian. We were climbing an alternative route since it was mid June and the ice was still hard enough to climb up the Ingraham Glacier directly and skip Disappointment Cleaver. Its all snow, no rocks. I followed Jesse as she led us up the mountain. It was still pitch dark but I looked up, and I could see the light coming off of climbers headlamps above us. I had no sense of scale because of how dark it was, but these climbers looked like they were airplanes. They were somehow directly over head of us. I could not comprehend how they could be walking on the mountain and still be that high above me. The angle of their height and distance did not make sense to me. I could hear some of the climbers ahead looking up at the lights and say "holy shit, how big is this thing?" It was a total trip to see where they were. The thing is, it was not going to be long until we were climbing up the same stretch of ice also. The ice on the glacier was a deep blue, I could see the surface of it every once and awhile. I had the song "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons stuck in my head. I had the chorus going over and over and over inside my head. I started singing it aloud to the rhythm of my footsteps in the ice. I was no longer cold but I knew we were really starting to put on some elevation with this route. We were no longer doing any switch backs, we were climbing straight up an ice wall. It was dark enough I could not really tell the angle at which we were climbing but I knew it was higher than 35 degrees just by the feel of it. We were clipping into carabiners that were anchored into the ice with ice screws. I knew this meant if we fell in this spot, without the anchors, it would be a fatal fall.
It was a real climb now. It was a grind. I never let Jesse get too far in front of me, I didnt want the rope between us to become taut because I thought she might think I was getting tired. Of course I was getting tired though. We all were. No one had said a word in a long time. We were focused though. Because we were about to go from climbing, to navigating. It felt like the ice wall was finally leveling out a little bit, teams ahead of us were slowly moving over an ice bridge. This was the coolest thing I had ever seen on a mountain. I watched Jesse walk over the bridge. She yelled "Anchor!" and I crossed the bridge. I clipped in and waited for Jim. He did the same for Brian. We set off again and I looked back to see the bridge, a thin piece of ice hanging over a bottomless crevasse. I thought that was going to be the craziest part of the entire glacier. We slowly worked our way through a maze of ice and crevasses I knew was there but could not see. It seemed quite tame, the crazy ice formations on the ground were gone. This looked like normal snow. I would have a different perspective about this area on the descent, once the light showed what was there.
We continued up the mountain and took another break once we were through the obstacle course below us. It was the coldest I had even been in my entire life. I was wearing the biggest jacket I had ever worn, but I couldnt stop shaking. I was starting to get tired, but I wanted to keep moving than sit there and freeze. Everyone was cold at this point. I havent ever seen my dad shiver hard but he was up here. The sun was starting to rise. More people made the decision to turn around here. We were only two and a half thousand feet from the top, a couple hours more. Weather was perfect, a little windy at times but clear as it gets.
 |
| Starting to see what we had really climbed so far |
We set off again and I was so thankful. I couldnt eat much at all but drank water. My stomach was not well, but I still had decent energy. I knew were we closing in on the summit and that kept me energized. I was cold for ten or fifteen minutes after we set off. The team still was moving smoothly up the hill. "Thunder" was stuck in my head and I was singing it aloud. It was helping me set pace but it was also driving me insane. I would mostly keep my head down, trying not to look too far ahead of myself. There were not many obstacles ahead of us anymore, but still a lot of distance. The sun was making the mountain look beautiful. I could see cloud coverage over the whole state below us. We were taller than any other piece of ground in Washington.
 |
| looking back at my dad |
 |
| High above adams |
 |
| 13.3k feet, I realized we were going to make it at this point. 1k feet felt like nothing |
The view was as good as you could ask for or even imagine. It was a steep climb and we did switchbacks up the slopes and we clipped in an out of the anchor points. Any stopped movement caused me to freeze, so I began to feel some resentment when people would take too long anchoring. I was singing "thunder". I told Jesse that the climb was making me tired. She said "well you're the only one singing up here so you cant be that tired." I was that tired. Another hour passed by, I knew the slopes were steep but I just paid attention the ground in front of me. I knew mistakes could be dangerous at this point. I just put all my energy into focusing on the pace. I was rest stepping every step, pressure breathing every two or so steps. Just trying to force air into my lungs. Time moved quickly as I settled into this loop. Before I knew it we were at the last break before the summit. There were two little flat spots cut into the middle of the slope. It was not much and the wind ripped at my bones the entire time I sat there. This break I finished the last of one of my water bottles. I had not drank nearly enough as I had wanted to.
 |
| Final Break |
We cut the final break a little short. Everyone was shaking and freezing and we could just get to the top and finish this thing off. We headed up the hill and set back into the pace. I was set in my little loop. Thunder. Step. Step. Breathe. Thunder. Step. Step. Breath. Lightning and the thunder. Step. Step. It was probably comical to watch but it kept me moving. I had no other thoughts than these on the final push. I didnt look up or to the left or to the right. My calves were completely worked. I remember looking up and seeing what looked to be the top. There wasnt anything above it, but I didnt know if there was a false summit or anything. It was probably 6 or 7 am and I was feeling tired. Eventually the slope began to level out, and I could see a rocky rim edge. Like a giant margarita glass, Rainier has rocks on her rim.
Mountain tops are typically anticlimactic when you get to the actual top. This was like that as well. Its one of those "cool we made it." We have done 50% of the climb. Some climbers were grouped up talking and giving some high fives. Everyone was really relaxed now that the uphill battle was over. I gave Jim and hug. I took off my pack and sat on it. We unclipped from the ropes so we could roam freely. The guides pointed to the far end of the crater and said the true summit was up there, about a 45 minute walk. Everyone left their packs in a circle and we began to traverse the crater.
 |
| Grouping up in the crater |
The walk went by quickly because it was very cool to finally have made it. The weather had been perfect.
 |
| Jim ascends the final little bump to the true summit |
 |
| Climbers register |
 |
| you can see where we left out packs on the left side of this picture I wrote my name in the register. There was sulfuric smells in the rocks. There was no breeze up there. I could see gas coming out the top of the snow. A reminder that Rainier is alive. I never expected fumes to come out of the top like that. We all took a group picture at the top and we took in the views of Washington. 14410'. |
We headed back down across the crater to get our packs and begin our descent.
 |
| leaving the summit |
We would rearrange our teams positioning on the descent. Brian would follow the steps of the team in front of us, then I would be next, then my dad, then our guide Jesse. The entire route would be shown to me now that it was day time.
 |
| a quick cliff bar before we began the descent |
We set off down the mountain. I was so excited having topped out, and I think the adrenaline wave that carried me to the top had worn off. Reality had set it. I was 9000' away from the nearest human comfort. I had gone for the summit, and not saved that much for the return trip. I told myself I was going to keep the perfect amount of slack between Brian and myself so he would not pull me down the mountain. That is what I focused on for hour after hour. I was beyond exhausted. It felt like Brian was running down the mountain. I was literally running to keep up with him and maintain good slack in the rope between us. I was pulling my dad and I could feel his weight on my harness which would then jerk my balance. Then I would get tugged by Brian in front of me. It felt like I was stuck between two people going in opposite directions. I am certain they felt the same about me. Why the hell couldnt we keep a nice smooth pace like we had done on the way up? I began to resent everyone I was roped to. I thought I was going to get pulled off by either them falling or myself falling. This went on for nearly the entire descent and eventually I just got used to it. After a couple hours I figured if we were going to fall it wouldve happened by now. I knew they had to be just as wiped as I was.
It was hard to pay attention to anything except the pain my toes were experiencing from slamming down into my plastic boots for hours. We continued to use anchors on the slopes, if we were going to have an accident it was going to be on the way down. It was hard to focus on anything but staying balanced. Then the slopes level out a bit and I realized what I had missed earlier in the morning.
We had gone through a maze of seracs, with cornices the lengths of football fields. A total mine field. Leaning blocks of ice the size of city blocks were hanging over the top of us. I cannot describe it. Pictures will never describe it. It was both scary and amazing. WE weaved through the path we had come up. In the dark I didnt see the bottomless crevasses which the path went by. They were only a few feet away. No visible bottom. I thought we had gone over that single ice bridge. We had gone over dozens of them. Each time we were anchoring ourselves to the mountain in the dark, we were going over something insane or by towers of ice the size of buildings. While waiting for anchoring, I turned on my gopro, the SD card was full, and I wasnt aware. Im sure the videos would help explain. This was the only photo I took in this area. There is no scale to explain anything that youre seeing. The blocks of ice in the background were the size of city blocks.
We snuck our way through this icy maze and came down onto the Ingrahm flats. This was our one and only break on the descent.
 |
| A couple climbers coming down from the glacier |
I was nearly out of gas. We had made it through most of the deadly areas and just had to grind on back to camp. I drank the last of my water and ate the last half of my snickers bar. It was probably around 9am and I was ready to go to bed. We set off in a new order again, flipping the order we had come down. Jesse, my dad, myself, and Brian behind me.
 |
| passing through Cathedral Gap |
We came straight down the Ingraham Flats, and went through Cathedral Gap. The peak on the left is Little Tahoma. Which is still taller than the height of Mt Adams. The size of Rainier is insane to think about. Walking behind my dad was a nice change because I wasnt getting tossed around as much on the ropes. It couldve been because we were on less steep ground, so we werent moving as carelessly. Or maybe everyone was just tired and wasnt pushing the pace through a safe area. Walking through the icy fins was just as cool during the day. Once we made it to the rocky area above the Cowlitz Glacier, I could see camp Muir. I stumbled through the rocks because I was totally exhausted. My gear was covered in red dirt from the rocks and I nearly tripped over a small rock. It was very difficult to focus on walking when I knew I was not far from camp. I dont even remember crossing the Cowlitz Glacier because I was just too tired to register anything that was happening anymore.
Camp Muir was an oasis. I ripped off my pack, grabbed my sleeping pad and laid it down on the snow to rest.
 |
| We made it back to camp slightly sun burned |
We spent probably another hour or two at Muir before heading down. I tried to glissade or run down the lower part to Paradise as much as I could. I was sick of walking. I wasnt too dehydrated but was definitely hungry. We made it Paradise around 3pm. It was fogged in just as we had left it. The bus smelt like 20 wet humans. The bus ride was long, it was dead quiet. Most people were passed out, asleep. I felt like a giddy little kid because we had made it. We were so hungry when we got back to RMI HQ we got some pizza slices and soda and we ate like total animals. We were disgusting and we acted like it. It was hilarious how hungry we were. We said our goodbyes. We drove west to Tacoma. We met our ladies at the Taco joint off 72nd and Park. I am sure we both slept like babies.
No comments:
Post a Comment