The solar
composting toilet at Camp Muir and Mt. Adams as seen from the slopes of
Mt. Rainier
Introduction
We stayed one night at Camp Muir, then crossed the
Cowlitz Glacier to Cathedral Gap (10,640 ft) and continued along the
rock and scree ridge to the Ingraham Glacier and Ingraham Flats at
11,100 ft. We spent the rest of the day here, caught some Z's until just
past midnight - then left for the summit, summitted and returned to
Ingraham Flats. At this point due to exhaustion we caught some more Z's
and then packed up the tent and hiked all the way back to Muir Camp and
then Paradise and were sleeping in a bed in Seattle by night fall. Some
people hike into Camp Muir early in the morning, spend the rest of the
day at Camp Muir and then try for the summit late that night. I do not
recommend this type of climb - its just not worth it as its a lot of
moving up the mountain very fast without giving your body enough time to
acclimate or rest. Many climbers stay at Camp Muir and skip camping at
the higher camp of Ingraham flats. Camp Muir might be a bit safer - its
certainly lower than Ingraham - thus a longer summit attempt. There were
three climbers totally in our party.
During the summer months Rainier Mountaineering keeps the route to the
summit via Disappointment Cleaver fairly well marked with bamboo wands.
In addition due to the amount of traffic to the summit via this route,
there is a fairly well marked trail in the snow all the way to the
summit crater and then across the crater to the actual true summit. In
addition, above Ingram Flats, Rainier Mountaineering has fixed ropes and
belays in the snow and ice with their ice pickets. This is the steepest
section of the entire climb and in the early morning when it can be very
icy - having fixed belays is extremely helpful.
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Ranger Station to Camp Muir |
There are several short trails to the Muir Snowfield that lead from the
Paradise Lodge or the Jackson Visitor center. In the summertime, this
part is probably the most confusing part of the actual climb - deciding
which trail to take! You can ask the rangers about which trails lead to
the Muir Snowfield and or look at the trail maps at the visitor center.
The main trails are located right behind the Jackson visitor
center. There will probably be many day hikers on this first
part of the trail.
Snow gulley at Camp Muir |
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Our climb was held during the last weekend in June of
2006. We had warm days and clear nights for the entire time on the
mountain. We started
the climb immediately from the Jackson Visitor center on top of snow
which was covering a paved trail. (this was a normal snowfall year). The
start of the first days hike is through alpine forest which doesn't last
long. Soon you are on the open slopes of the Muir Snowfield and on a
sunny day the suns glare can be excruciatingly warm. The average time to
get from the Jackson Visitor center to Muir Camp is about 6 hours - we
did it in 5, but we talked to people who took 7 hours to make this trek.
Consider that the fastest time to the top from Paradise *and* back to
Paradise is 5 hours and 6 minutes!
On a clear day after about 30 minutes to an hour of hiking you will
start finding excellent views of Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. At almost
12,300 feet, Mount Adams towers to the south east. This mountain is a
good climb in its own right - some people ski off the summit which gives
you almost 7000 feet of vertical downhill slopes! As you climb the
slopes of the Muir Snowfield, Mt. St. Helens is to the south and west of
Mt. Adams. Its not nearly as spectacular and if there is haze in the air
will be much harder to see.
Arguably this day can be considered one of the toughest days on Rainier
due to the distance and elevation. Its almost 5 miles from Paradise
(where the visitor center is located) to Camp Muir - and one has to
climb up over 4700 feet to reach Camp Muir - all the while carrying a
heavy backup on this, your first day of climbing. I recommend starting
out early this day - before 9am and taking your time during the climb.
Stop occasionally and drink lots of fluids and eat snacks. There are a
lot of fairly steep snowy slopes on the way up to Muir which makes
hiking up slow going. We never even entertained the thought of using
crampons on this days hike as the snow was very slushy and the hills
were just not steep enough to warrant their use.
We had a well marked trail due to all the climbers and it was well worn
in on the snow covered slopes. There were several areas of rock and
earth poking out of the snow covered slopes, but not too many. Sometimes
later in the season some crevasses can open up just below Camp Muir - so
use extra caution when hiking in this area.
Camp Muir sits between 10,088 and 10,200 feet, depending on which
guidebook you read. I guess that's so you can choose to give a higher
elevation so it sounds more impressive when you tell people! In any
case, this is a high class base camp compared to many other mountain
base camps. There is a ranger bunk house, a public shelter, guide house,
client house as well as a nice but smelly solar powered composting
toilet. It can be extremely windy here and its best to camp behind the
Muir ridge down in and among the snow gullies. The public shelter can be
a bit smelly here as well and its probably better to just camp on your
own. Mt. Rainier has a "poop you pack it" system. Bags with a blue
"bull's-eye" are provided for your use. Only Camp Muir and Paradise have
poop bag disposal containers - so if you have an "occurrence" higher up
on the mountain, you have to return the full bags with you to one of
these disposal areas. The disposal area at Camp Muir is in the Solar
powered toilet. Unfortunately the poop bags are not Ziploc like you find
on Mt. Shasta.
There are great views from Camp Muir - especially at sunrise and sunset.
From your camp you can look towards the mountain and see the trail in
the snow that winds across the Cowlitz Glacier to Cathedral Gap (10,640
ft). You can also see a lot of rock fall in the snow near the actual
gap. Due to the exhaustion and variety of ailments that set in after the
long hike we slept for over 10 hours this night. The otherwise deep
sleep was only interrupted several times by loud rock and ice falls in
the distance. This is more common during the day when its warmer and the
snow and ice is melting, but occurs at night as well.
Muir Camp is well protected away from the glacier, rock and ice fall.
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Camp Muir to Ingraham Flats |
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We set out the next morning, roped up for the first time, across the
long snowfield that covers the Cowlitz Glacier. We did not have crampons
on which was a good thing as we ended up walking up scree rock covered
steep slopes once we left the snow trail and the Cowlitz
Glacier. From Muir camp you can see exactly where you will be
hiking as the trail in the snow is well visible all the way to
the Cathedral Gap. You may also see at this time of year large
crevasses in the glacier.
The Cowlitz Glacier leading to Cathedral Gap |
We had about 50 feet of rope between us and kept the
slack to a minimum. This part of
the trail leading to Cathedral Gap is a fairly gentle climb - certainly
a lot less steep than most of the slopes we had climbed up the prior
day.
Once you approach Cathedral Gap gather up your energy for a fast climb
through this area. There are generally lots of rocks scattered about on
and near the trail for several hundred feet and you do not want to stop
here. By late June the snow will have generally melted off of much of
this Gap and ridge. Once you leave the snow you will switch back several
times up a very steep rocky slope until you finally reach the top of the
slope. This is a good rest area if its not too windy - and you have
excellent views of the Tahoma Spire and you can see Ingraham Flats, the
high camp on this route from this ridge. You will climb up the ridge for
a short ways eventually stepping onto the edge of Ingraham glacier. Be
careful in this area especially without crampons as the section between
the glacier and the scree/dirt is deceivingly slippery. You cross a
several hundred long steep snowy slope just below a bergshrund and just
above ice seracs and crevasses from the glacier. Soon you are at
Ingraham flats (often mistakenly called Ingram Flats by climbers). The
main trail does not lead to each of the campsites; you have to leave the
trail and cross several hundred feet to where the camp sites are
located. The sites sit right on top of and in the middle of the glacier
- walk with caution to avoid any crevasses that might be buried beneath
the snow.
By this time of year there are usually pre-existing camping sites dug
out into the glacier with snow walls surrounding them, offering wind
protection. Before you actually setup your tent, poke your ice axes into
the snow to make sure there are not any buried crevasses close to the
surface.
We arrived here around 12pm - setup camp and spent the rest of the day
relaxing and admiring the spectacular view. We often heard rock falls
coming from the closest steep slope to us as well as other louder ice
falls coming from on top of and deep within the glaciers. Orient your
tent so your entrance looks out at the jagged looking Tahoma Spire to
the south west. Behind Ingraham Flats higher up the mountain is the
jagged looking Ingraham glacier full of huge sharp ice seracs. You can
also see the part of the route especially the part that switch backs its
way up Disappointment Cleaver.
There are no blue bag disposal cans at Ingraham Flats - so you have to
pack these down to Camp Muir on your return climb.
Ingraham Flats to Summit
We were in bed by about 7:30 pm after having carbo loaded for the
upcoming early alpine start. We set the alarm for 12:30am but did not
actually start climbing until 1:30am. It took about an hour to get
everything in order even though we had packed our summit packs the night
before.
To start the climb this morning for the upper body I had four layers of
fleece on, and a down 700 fill jacket. For the lower half I had a thick
pair of fleece pants and a Gortex shell. Then on top of all these layers
I wore an 8000 meter thick down suit with thick hood. I also had a
baclava on my head under my climbing helmet. In addition, I wore battery
powered electronic warmers with special insoles in my climbing boots. If
your feet get cold easily, I cannot say enough about how great the
Hotronic feet warmers are (
www.hotronic.com -
note that many of the stores Hotronic lists on their website who say
they carry Hotronic's products either don't carry the products or only
carry them seasonally - a company that always has Hotronic products in
stock is:
www.cozywinters.com ). It was so cold and windy, if I did not have
these foot warmers I would have been in a world of hurt.
Tahoma Spire as seen from Ingraham Flats and nearby Ice Seracs next to the
camp
Now you might think this amount of clothing is crazy, but I get cold
extremely easy and for the most part all these layers kept me pretty
warm. For most people the down suit would be overkill. I could not stop
in the wind for too long or I would start to get cold, so the breaks we
took on the way to the top were fairly short. During the strenuous part
of climbing the steep slopes I would start sweating a bit and would have
to unzip the leggings of the down suit and also the upper part. This
meant I had to drink more than the others. During the descent in the hot
sunshine I was extremely hot (see the part about the descent below).
An early alpine start is very important as it is colder at night during
the day which helps limit the amount of rock and ice fall. Many of the
guided climbers from Camp Muir may start their summit day as early as
midnight and if its warm even earlier than that like 10 or 11pm. Since
Ingraham Flats is about an hour to 90 minutes closer to the summit,
you can leave accordingly.
The trail winds behind the camp - gently climbing over the glacier and
near unstable leaning ice seracs as you get closer to the steeper part
of the glacier directly behind Ingraham flats. You need to move
extremely fast through this section as the ice seracs are very unstable.
In fact, the worst climbing accident on US soil occurred in this area on
June 21, 1981 when 11 climbers were killed after a huge ice serac fell
on them. (read on for further for our own experience with falling ice
seracs on our return climb down the mountain) More information about
this terrible tragedy is available here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ghostsofrainier/fall302.shtml
After about 30 minutes and 300 feet in elevation gain, you will start
climbing up to the cleaver via a very dangerous area of unstable
crumbling rocks and in an area with a high potential for ice fall. You
absolutely need to move fast through this section.
Once you climb through the very rocky/icy area you will begin the
steepest portion of the entire climb via this route. Slopes up to 50%
grade are present - in this area RMI will most likely have fixed belays,
with ropes anchored to snow pickets. In the early morning this area can
be
very icy - most of the steep trail is more of a narrow snow chute in
which it is difficult to climb out of. This is not a good section to
pass other climbers. Its a good idea to clip into the anchored rope
which you will have to clip and unclip several times as there are a
number of fixed ropes setup.
If this section is windy you won't be able to hear your climbing
partners - and you are pretty much on your own. Its almost guaranteed
that with an early alpine start it will be quite cold. Once you get past
the real steep section (normally 45 mins to an hour) you will soon
arrive at a rather small flat area which is a good place to take a rest
break. This is at about 12,300 feet. From here, you climb below some
very dangerous looking seracs (don't want to take any rest breaks here)
and from these seracs its pretty much a slog on Ingraham glacier on
switch backs all the way up to the summit crater. These switch backs are
not nearly as steep as the ones that you climbed up the cleaver however
they are quite steep and its uphill the entire way. Be cautious as there
are crevasses along the trail and you have to be careful where you step.
Just because there is a trail, does not mean its safe. You will most
likely come across several snow bridges and you and your climbing
partners should use extreme caution until all group members are across.
Snow bridges can be deceiving. They can be extremely strong when frozen,
but when the sun warms them they lose their strength very fast and can
drop you into the crevasse where earlier they would have held just fine.
We walked across several bridges in which you could look straight down
and see the steely blue green of the guts of the glacier. The snow
bridges we walked across appeared to be no more than 8-12 feet across at
the longest points - there were several other even shorter bridges.
Factors among others which determine a snow bridges strength are time of
year, time of the day, length of the bridge and thickness.
One of the greatest experiences on Rainier is to see the sunrise from
high up on the slopes. Right when the sun peaks above the mountains far
below you are cast in an other-worldly pink light. You can actually
start to see the sky lighten in the 4am hour - and its this first light
which can be an inspiration to climbers when its so cold and dark.
Dave on top of summit Crater with arm raised in victory salute - and
summit crater from south ridge
We reached the summit crater (14,150 feet) around 7am - and because it
was so windy and cold spent only about 15 minutes actually enjoying the
view from here. In fact our exposed water bottles were frozen through
pretty well by this time and only in the inner part of the bottle was
there still unfrozen water.
We saw one party had setup a tent in the middle of the summit crater
near the trail. From here the trail to the other side of the summit
crater to the true summit (called Columbia Crest which is the highest
point on the crater rim) and summit register will take about 20-30
minutes. You actually descend into the crater, walk across it gradually
uphill and slowly
ascend the slightly steeper other side. Its not a hard hike as there isn't a lot of
elevation gain (only about 260 feet) other than the fact you are above
14,000 feet and have expended so much energy getting to this point.
There are great views of Mt. Adams from all over the crater rim. you can
also see Mt. St Helens and if there is no haze, the pointed spire of Mt.
Hood in Oregon is visible way to the south.
The Descent
Now for the downhill! Going down is much quicker of course, but you have
to be extremely cautious as the weather is probably warming up which
increase the probability for rock, ice and serac fall. (the snow was
already slushy when we started down in the early morning).
On the open steep slopes of the upper Ingraham Glacier below the summit
crater we encountered many climbing parties - most probably started up
from Camp Muir. One of the guides remarked to me how I was the first
person he's ever seen on Rainier wearing a 8000 meter down suit! On
these upper slopes it is fairly easy to step off the main trail to let
others pass you. The sun was shining brightly and by the time we reached
the top of the cleaver below the seracs at the flat rest area, I was
burning up. I was sweating so much I had to remove the down jacket and
jettison the down hood.
Descending the steep section was much easier than when we previously
ascended in the 2am darkness and on the slippery ice. Now the snow was
extremely slushy and while very steep, the snow would cushion your
downhill steps and descending was actually rather easy on the steepest
parts of the cleaver.
Once we exited the cleaver very rapidly due to all the rocks that had
rained down on the trail, approaching Ingram Flats we were amazed to see
huge massive ice block seracs had fallen right onto the trail where we
had walked several hours earlier. One chunk the size of a car had
completely buried the trail so we had to navigate (very quickly) around
this ice chunk littered section. This is basically the area where the
worst mountaineering accident in US climbing history occurred - when
large ice seracs buried the climbers.
Serac & crevasse littered Ingraham Glacier |
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Upon returning to our camp at Ingraham Flats we promptly ripped off all
our warm clothes, held our noses due to the incredible stench, and sank
into the warm tent and ripped some Z's for 2 hours. Upon finding energy
after our sleep, we broke camp and headed down the mountain.
We stayed roped up across the Bergshrund and down to Camp Muir but had
taken our crampons off at Ingraham Flats because the snow was so slushy
and we were going to be descending mostly on scree and rock. Leaving
Ingraham Glacier and stepping onto the rock ridge was a slippery section
as parts of the glacier extends underneath the rock and earth. We motored
through Cathedral Gap near all the rock fall and continued across
Cowlitz Glacier to Camp Muir.
Returning from Camp Muir to Paradise is one big slog in the snow. At
least going down is much faster than going up and the snow is much more
forgiving than hard ground, especially with a heavy pack on your back.
Once you hit the bare ground its like a shock to your legs as you have
been used to the forgiving snow on your descent.
Glissading opportunities are very rare on Rainier compared to other
Cascade mountains such as Mt. Shasta. The slopes typically are not steep
enough for glissading and the slopes that are steep enough are typically
found on the glaciers. Its not a wise idea to glissade on glaciers due
to possible hidden crevasses. A note of caution when descending rapidly
- look for areas where the snow has sunken in near where the snow meets
the edge of a slope or rock pile. Use extra caution around these areas
as you don't want to posthole all the way through the snow and get your
foot caught in a rock pile - all the while you are hauling ass downhill.
Once you arrive at the visitor center you must check out and hand a
ranger the stub from your climbing pass.
Other Rainier Notes
Scientists estimate Rainier has a good chance of partially exploding
sometime in the next 100 years. Deep layers of dirt have been found in
Seattle which are directly traced back to the slopes of this mountain.
Rainier has the largest amount of ice and glaciers of any mountain in
the lower 48. Scientists say that even a small eruption will send
millions of tons of snow and ice and mud down into the nearby towns with
the possibility of going all the way to Seattle. The catastrophic damage
of this mud flow, would be unbelievable. There is a warning system setup
in the nearby towns and cities but pre warnings might be slim to none.
The "Scare" article is available here:
www.seattleweekly.com/news/0542/051019_news_mountrainier.php
Rainier National Park has seen its share of plane crashes with the most
famous one in 1946. A military plane carrying 32 Marines crashed into
the side of Rainier killing all on board. The bodies and the wreckage
remain entombed in the glacier. In 1992 a small plane supposedly crashed
in the summit crater and today is now buried in the snow and ice.
Parts of the summit have hot steam vents and fumaroles emitting gases
and hot water. You can actually see this gas and steam emitting from
parts of the inside walls of the summit crater - b/c these gases are
pretty warm you won't see any snow covering the ground in these areas.
As a result of all this heat there is a series of ice tunnels and caves
underneath the snow in the summit crater. I've read that if you know
what you are doing you can actually enter the ice tunnels at one end of
the summit crater and exit on the other side! This sounds like a good
option for a future Rainier trip! |
