Mount Rainier Summit Attempt
Trip Notes

Early morning view of the valley below Camp Muir with Mount Adams in the background.

Friday, June 4, 2004:
I got up at 5:30am and the sun was already up.  The scenery all around me was spectacular.  There was a fluffy blanket of cloud in the valley that slowly changed color as the sun came up and moved higher into the sky.  After taking some photos I got back in the tent and read my book.

Camp Muir's outhouses and barrels of human waste.

We spent most of the day in the tent just lazing around, trying to get as much rested as possible as we were planning on setting out at 9pm that night.  We didn't have much food so we had a late breakfast at 10:30am and dinner at 7:15pm, with nothing in between.  As it turned out we couldn't finish our dinner as we just weren't all that hungry.  The altitude had robbed us of our appetite.

The RMI shelter and ranger station.

At 8:30pm Robert went over to the ranger station to find out about the weather conditions as some high clouds had moved in causing strong winds.  He came back to the tent saying that we were going to abandon the summit and go back down the next morning as the winds were too fierce.  The rangers said that the wind was probably 10 to 20mph stronger higher up the mountain.  So we went back to bed.  I had to get up during the night and was almost blown off my feet when a particularly strong gust came by.  I slipped as the wind hit me but I managed to steady my footing before it knocked me over.

Three parties coming down from Cathedral Rock after a failed summit attempt.
This was at about 5:30am.

Saturday, June 5, 2004:
When we woke up at 4am it was snowing.  We only got up at 5:30am and got our things packed up, ready to head down.  At that time there were several groups coming down across the snowfield headed back to Camp Muir.  They had set out late the night before but had turned back due to bad weather.  The wind was still howling and we could hardly get the tent folded and packed away as the wind was intent on grabbing it and flinging it down the mountain.

Jane and Robert geared up about to start the decent.  Note the cloud mass in the valley.

We left Camp Muir at 7:20am in fierce wind.  At around 9,000ft we entered the cloud and freezing rain.  It persisted until we got to the parking lot.  We met many groups going up for the day and some hoping to summit.  With the forecast the way it was they most probably wouldn't even set out from Camp Muir.

We did a quick march down, with lots of icy snow higher up and more slushy snow the lower we got.  At 10:10am we got back to the parking lot, 3 hours, 50 minutes after leaving Camp Muir. 

We signed out and dumped all our gear in the car.  The visitor center had great showers for $0.25 per 7.5minutes of streaming hot water.  We used several quarters and soaked the coldness and 3 days worth of dirt out of our bodies.  We had a snack and headed for Cannon Beach, Oregon for 3 days of rest.

A few things to consider:
In all this trip was a learning experience as we decided on several things that would have to change before we attempted it again.  We have now bought a 4 season tent which will stand up to high winds better.  I bought a pair of snow hiking boots as my Gore-Tex boots were cold, though they did stay dry.  I got a smaller, lighter Therma-Rest as mine was way too heavy... every ounce counts.  Robert also got a titanium cook set to replace the stainless steel set.  The new tent weighs about a pound more than the old one so with all the other bits we shaved off it should all even out and make our packs a little lighter.  I have also decided to take only one set of clothing as inevitably I don't end up using the change of clothing I always take along.  If you're dirty, clean clothes aren't going to make you any cleaner.  :)  Just never skimp on things to keep you warm.  I had a down jacket and a Gore-Tex jacket and ended up wearing both whenever we stopped to take a break.  And finally, in all, it was a fun experience and I definitely want to give Mount Rainier another try.

The End

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Mt Hood -
1st Attempt

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