2007 Mt. Rainier Adventure

[Davis2001R6]

2007 Mount Rainier Adventure with Pete, Ken and Tim

Pete called me out months ago saying that Mt. Rainier was calling my name. So immediately I said ok and signed on for a trip there. Ken followed very shortly after as he was supposed to go the previous year. The planning began and a few weeks later was had a 3-day trip booked with RMI (Rainier Mountaineering Inc.) We planned the trip around Ken’s 27th Birthday and the available days that RMI had. After some horrible airplane booking with a 4 hour layover in Portland and lodging secured at the Whitaker Lodge/Motel/Bunkhouse we were all set logistically for the trip. Then it just came down to buying a lot of gear on-line as no one in AZ likes to carry winter mountaineering gear.

Sunday: We are all off for the Airport and are pleasantly surprised when the lady checking us in for Alaskan Airlines says she can put us on a direct flight instead of the long layover in Portland. A little more magic and we even get Pete’s bag to measure 50lbs (year right). The trip is starting off good already. After an uneventful plane ride we arrive with our luggage in Seattle and take a bus to the Enterprise off site car rental. They “upgrade” us for economy to a bright purple PT cruiser, what a car for 3 guys. An easy 2 hour drive with a stop at a Bar and Grill along the way and we are at “Basecamp”, or what RMI calls there area there. They have a large expedition style tent set up out front, café shop attached to the motel and a pizza and burger place right next door. Everything Is within walking distance once your there. A general store with the very BASIC supplies down the road as long as a few other bar and grills too. We get our packs together and figure out what we need for the snow school, then doze off for a few hours of sleep in the HOT upstairs room with no AC or ceiling fans. Weather was less than perfect for the day with rain and clouds all day and 50+ MPH winds up on the mountain.

Monday: We awake bright and early and get ready for snow school, grab a bite to eat at the café and line up for the snow school. Peter Whitaker gives the morning prep talk with good news that for the first time in about a week a climb was able to summit that day. The day before they never even made it to the hut at Camp Muir (10k feet). We were all pretty excited about the news as was everyone else there. We load up our packs in the bus and our off for the 1 hour bus ride up to Paradise, the trailhead for our school and climb. The ride was pretty amazing, just seeing what power the Nasgigy river has and all the downed trees and wide path the river has cleared. We make it to the TH which is under construction, some very nice buildings are being put up there by the park service, I think they will be Inns, would definitely like to stay there in a year or two when there completed. We begin our hike up into the clouds. Most had double plastic boots and I had some lighter leather ones. The guides also had leathers, just a more insulated model than mine. It was about a 3 hour hike at a nice slow and steady pace that all can hike at. We began to climb in and out of the clouds, still haven’t even seen the mountain at this point. We make out way up to a snow field with a decent slope and a safe shallow run out. We practice the basic skills that we would be needing on the climb as well as similar on mountain in the future. Self arrest with the ice axe was the main thing that we practiced, for good reason too. Self arrest was #1 for safety as pressure breathing and rest steeping would be for fatigue. Also went over roped travel with a group, which direction to have the rope, how to approach switchbacks, that kind of stuff. Also went over different kinds of climbing and descending methods, different foot placements, all good stuff and I feel that we all learned a lot that day. After an easy hike back down to the car we were back on the bus to town. We grabbed some food, downed some liquids, packed our packs and repacked our packs again. It was a busy day and I know I got a workout, I was spent and got a good nights sleep.

Tuesday: Up again and wondering what I forgot in the pack, did we bring too much did I bring enough food, will the weather be clear today. We head over to the waiting area and the guides Peter, Clint and Jake look over our packs. Not so much seeing what we were taking, just looking at the size of them. Of course I had the smallest pack by far and Peter immediately wanted to see what I had in there. He didn’t like my Parka (A montbell synthetic parka to go along with the montbell jacket I had as well). A minute discussion and I was off renting the Mountain Hardwear sub-zero parka. Not happy at the time as I had analyzed my gear and had been going over it for months. I was just happy that my parka came out of the pack first as they probably wouldn’t have like my sleeping bag as well. Temps were In the 40’s at Muir all week and I brought my Montbell Down Super Stretch #7 as well as the thermalite liner. I’ve used that combination down to freezing wearing just boxers so I knew I would be fine with all the extra clothes I had as well. Ok, were off up the mountain and hiking up to Muir now. After about 2 miles we reach the snowfield and take a straight up approach from there. We fall into line practicing stepping in each others steps, rest steps and pressure breathing. It was a nice pace and soon we found ourselves above the clouds with amazing views of the mountain as well as Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood as well. We take breaks just about every hour, 15 minute maintenance breaks to hydrate, eat some food, load up on sunscreen and do anything else we needed to. 15 Minutes seems like a good amount of time, but I always found myself a bit rushed. While we were re-energizing the guides would tell mountain tales and what kind of things we would be doing for the rest of the day and arrival at camp. The summit team coming down the mountain was taking quit a while so we took a longer break 20 minutes from Camp Muir. No one seemed to mind as we had some amazing views and I was snapping as many pictures as I could. We finally make it up to Camp Muir and the other group clears out, time to get set-up in the hut. Space is limited as there were be 18 of us in there. The 6 from our team and 8 teens from a youth group called outdoor adventures. They were on the tail end of a 25 day adventure. Lights out was 7:00pm and they wanted you resting at that point. A few dozed right and gave some music for everyone else to listen too. With 18 people who were all trying to be properly hydrated you can imagine how frequently someone was getting up for a potty run. I finally doze off once it gets dark and stay plenty warm for the night, just using my sleeping bag as a blanket as usual.

Wednesday: 1145PM (Tuesday) the Guides come in with news of good weather for the day and to be ready for a 1AM departure up the mountain. We were split up into 2 rope teams: Ken, Pete & 1 and Fran, Joe & Charles. The teens were to depart after us with 4 groups of 3 as well. We being the traverse that looked horrible the day before was to be the easiest part of the day. After the traverse we climbed a steep scree chute with tight switchbacks, be brought in the road for this section and climbed about 5 feet apart through here being careful not to kick rocks down. After 1 ½ hours of climbing we took a break at XX Flats/Glacier. We donned the Parka immediately and took in fluids and food, this section was ok but climbing scree in boots and crampons is no fun at all. After what seemed like 5 minutes we were off and hiking again. I was regretting not bringing the camelback as they said not too, I’m used to continuously hydrating in AZ, not every hour and a half. The next section we climbed was Disappointment Cleaver, it started off with some STEEP tedious scree to climb. I was really starting to fell my blisters through this stuff. Finally we made it past the rock and were climbing in the snow again. It was steep and had switchbacks every 50 feet or so. This section was slow going for us and we were taking a few extra breaks for catch our breath. I was getting pretty winded as well from not rest stepping correctly. I kept trying to step in a way that would be friendliest on my heels and although it may have decreased the pain there it definitely wore me out. We made it to our next rest break atop Disappointment Cleaver and at that point Pete decided it would be best to head down. I jumped on bored with him as I knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant day if I decided to continue on. It was a hard decision to make and a hard one to stick with as this time after some healing feet. The top is only half way and it was a long ways down from there. We parted ways with Ken and wished him the best of luck, I was disappointed. We picked up one of the teens and he headed down with us as well. It was very slow going on the way down. No need to rush though as well had plenty of time. My blisters didn’t feel that bad on the way down, it was just with inclines. Soon the sun was beginning to rise and it was picture time for me. We weren’t supposed to take pictures while climbing, only at the breaks, although we could ask and stop for a picture. Well that didn’t suit me to well so I snapped away. I was pretty happy with some of the shots I got, most were wearing a glove and holding the camera in one hand and just pointing and shooting. We picked up another straggler were we took our first break, he was having some leg issues I think, we took him back down to Camp Muir while the rest of his party continued on. Back at Muir it was a beautiful day we arrived a bit before 7am, took an hour or two nap but found myself restless and needed walk around, Pete joined me shortly after. It would be a long day at camp, not a lot of action, 4 or 5 of the teens were there (I guess 3 or 4) turned back at the first rest break on the way up. We packed up early to get out of the way for rest whenever they would make it back. If we could have climbed down ourselves we would have, it was just a long day there. The views were still amazing though.

Finally we could see climbers beginning to descend and I wish I had my other camera to get some close-ups up on the mountain. We got excited when they returned and I was very happy for their success. It was great to here there stories and struggles from the mountain. I was still happy with my decision to turn back when we did. We all got packed up and started heading down. Very happy to be going down the snow field at this point. The snow was soft and made for some great sliding on the way down. There were a few glissading chutes an some of us had a lot of fun sliding down on our butts, others just walked down. We were a bit on our own for once and it was nice to be free, not walking single file staring at each others boots. It was all fun and games until we hit the trail  Nobody enjoyed the trail in their boots, one crazy guy even took off his boots, ran down the last ½ mile in his boots scaring tourist with ice axe in hand and balaclava on his head!

Joe’s wife and daughter met us at the trailhead with a cooler full of beer. Sure was a nice treat. She had bought the trip as a 45th B-day present for him and they made a family vacation out of it. Once back in town we all met up at the Pizza place and celebrated some more, so almost drank them out of beer, literally. I think we finished off 3 kegs while we were there and there beer delivery wasn’t till the next day. No Coors light for me but the Alaskan Amber suited me just fine. Joe’s wife brought her laptop out and we viewed both our pictures on there. The was a real riot, Peter was shocked at some of my pictures knowing were I would have been when they were taken, scolded me for taking them on the move , but also gave me his e-mail and asked me to send a few of them to him. We turned in a few hours later and stayed this night in “The Bunkhouse”, it was actually numerous rooms all with 2 bunk-beds each. I envisioned a military style bay lined with bunks but it was a lot better than that.

Thursday: We leisurely awoke and packed up trying to fit everything in our suitcases again. Picked up a couple of souvenirs although I was disappointed I couldn’t find a “I Climbed to 12,5k T-Shirt”. Bought a Rainier shirt, although not a I climbed shirt, will have to make another trip for that one. We headed into Seattle and Pete gave us a great tour of the city. Went down to Pike Street Market and saw the place where they throw the fish, then had a great Sea-food lunch on the water with a great view of the “Sound”. That was some of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. Then we headed over to the Space Needle and found a 15 minute parking spot right out front. Headed over for a picture of two then ended up getting the express ride to the top and bypassing the 1 hour line (Good work Pete). Took a few pictures, unfortunately it was cloudy and couldn’t see the mountain from there. Knowing that the REI flagship store was in town we had to find that. Again Pete got us right about there and some friendly people on the sidewalk got us the rest of the way. I ran (well wadled) up to the 2nd floor right to the boot department. Phoenix doesn’t exactly have a good variety of mountaineering boots so I got some ideas of what the buy next. I'm just glad I don't live there otherwise I would be in that store A LOT. Minutes later we were off to the airport fighting Seattle traffic, over in the carpool lane and we cruised all the way to the rental car place. 2 minutes there and our only complaint was we had a purple car. At the airport the girl says she can get us on a direct flight to phoenx, with no connection. What luck, it was working out again, but after messing up our tickets she sent us up to the main checkin to get it straightened out. We missed that flight, but they have a non stop later that night and would still get in 20 minutes before our original flight. So it still worked out, off to Fridays for a few beers then to our gate. Flight delayed 30 minutes. Ok, over to the next bar for a shot and a drink. We walk in and there special for the day was a Beer and shot for a few bucks more, something just worked out everywhere we went. Finally we getting ready to board. Pete inquires with the girl about first class and it would be $50 a piece and they didn't have 3 seats together so we opt not to after some debate. Well we waited to be the last to board and as we check in she hands us 3 first class tickets, some people were nice enought to switch seats and we were all together again. The flight out we had an amazing view of Mt. Rainier off the side of the plane, one of the best things I've ever seen from an airplane. Some beers, jokes and happy discussions about how well the trip went and before we knew it we were back in Phoenix.

Although we weren't all able to summit together that didn't take anything away from the trip for us. It was an awesome week, good times had everyday, lessons and new skills learned and I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Ken and Pete thanks for the idea to go and for being great climbing partners and friends!

-TIM-

Our pictures are located Here

[Suz]

Fun story to read with my morning cup of coffee!

I love the way you get out there and have incredible/new adventures! You sure know how to "live".......and get my brain working....................(Hank we need to get our next adventure on the books---did you order the boat yet?)

Now I need to know ---what is Pressure Resting? How do you do it? When do you use it? Why no water bladder, does it weigh more? What about their parka do you think that ended up fitting your needs better?

Fun story thanks for sharing.

[jdahling]

So, would you use RMI again? What other things would you do differently next time?

I'm looking to do this same hike in 2008 - these types of things would be really helpful to know.
_________________
Cheers,
Jeannine

"Life is an adventure ... Made for an adventurer ..."

[Davis2001R6]

Rest stepping, is making a quick transition with your foot on each step and locking out your back leg with each step as well. It just gives you muscles a 1/2 second or so of rest with every step, doesn't seem like much but it adds up for sure.

Pressure Breathing is taking a deep breathe an exhaling quickly through pursed lips.

Water bladders can tend to freeze up around 12-13k feet, but I would rather have used one either way, it as those first two sections that I wanted to hydrate as I climbed as opposed to being thirsty and downing 1/3 a liter at each break.

Yes I think their parka was a good idea. We were stopped for probably a half hour when it was said and done when we turned around and waited for the other groups to depart, this was a long time and being able to just throw the parka on to keep warm was nice. I had invisioned utilizing ALL my layers, with that and the Parka I think I would have been fine in fair weather, maybe not in anything worse than what we had. We climbed in pretty much a base layer and light fleece up top, pants I just had regular zip off hiking pants and tall gaitors, I was sweating wearing just that, sweat gets cold quick on a break.

[Davis2001R6]

[desertgirl]

Yup -- Master the rest step and it makes a HUGE difference! On the hydration front - Did you consider a Nalgene or similar smaller container hidden inside your parka to prevent freezing. Water bladder worked well on my altitude climbs (up to20K) as long as you did not have it frozen overnight. - During the day if you have the baldder against your back it usually stays ice free ...Wonder why they did not recommend ...I'd have a back up but still fill my baldder as long as it works ...

Do you think the acclamitization would have made a difference..you are saying 5 days vs 3days ?

Thanks for a good read ...
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Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream!

[Davis2001R6]

I had the Nalgenes for breaks and no problem with them freezing, but yes we wrap them in our parka's. I'm sure my bladder would have been fine for 90% of the hike, a small sip every few minutes has kept in from freezing for me before when it was in the 20's.

I didn't recommend the 5 day course for acclamitizaion reasons, just that everything is done from Camp Muir on up I think. Our snow school tought the basics, the 5 day gets into Crevice rescue, team rescue, belaying, climbing rope, all that good stuff. Plus the school if the school is actually around Muir, then that would be nice, because our hike to and from the snow school area is just wasted energy.

[lzyboy]

Outstanding trip report Tim, what an adventure!! You're right on about the 5-day course, and Jeannine, take a hard look at it, it's just like Tim says. And RMI is the way to go. Congratulations to all you guys , and Ken on the summit, nice birthday present. Amazing how things fell into place all over. First Class?? , sheez, you guys know how to celebrate!! So, what's next?? Denali???
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I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.

Rosalia de Castro

[jdahling]

I have dreamed of summiting Denali ... I am IN! Let's get a group, plan it and go!
_________________
Cheers,
Jeannine

"Life is an adventure ... Made for an adventurer ..."

[IGO]

I haven't gotten to this yet Tim. I think it will be Saturdays morning coffee.
You got one picture in the Gallery I'd like to see if it will enlarge. I commented on it.
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"Surely all God's people, however serious or savage, great or small, like to play. Whales and elephants, dancing, humming gnats, and invisibly small mischievous microbes - all are warm with divine radium and must have lots of fun in them." John Muir

[Davis2001R6]

Denali is too cold. Orizaba is my next BIG step eventually.

[BoyNhisDog]

This is really super Tim. I am currently reading Lost Explorer when Conrad Anker finds Mallory's remains on Everest and it is good. Looking at your images reminds me of some of the terrain examples like those huge crevasses.

I have a friend who lives in the Canadian Rockies and uses that "rest step" technique in his travels in some very wild looking mountains up there. He is an animal and can snow shoe so far to get to a climb.
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Seize from every moment its unique novelty and do not prepare your joys
- Andre Gide

[Desert-Boonie]