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 Robert putting his crampons on at just before 1am on summit day. Thursday, August 25, 2005: Our alarms went off at 11:30pm and we soon got up and started getting ready for hiking to the summit. We each had thermal leggings on with convertible hiking pants and GoreTex pants over the top. I wore two thin fleece long sleeves and my GoreTex jacket. We had enough water for the hike but needed some to drink before setting out so we spent quite a bit of time just melting snow. Each carrying a light daypack and 3 liters of water we set out for the summit at 1am. We had headlamps on and were roped together with ice axes in hand. It was totally dark with only a half moon to help us navigate the boot trail through the snow. There was one team ahead of us and another close behind so we at least had someone to follow across Cowlitz Glacier. The Cathedral Rocks were quite treacherous as there was sliding rock and gravel which we were walking over in our crampons. The ranger at Camp Muir had suggested we keep our crampons on the whole way. Then across Ingraham Glacier and on to the infamous Disappointment Clever. We had one two man team ahead of us when we got to the Cleaver so we stuck close behind them to prevent rock falls. The four man team behind us held back until we were clear of the Clever. The sun came up at 6:05 and we could finally see what lay around us. The view of the valley below was spectacular. It was really cold and the hoses to our water bladders froze. I suspect I became somewhat dehidrated as I started getting headaches in the particularly strenuous areas. We had another hard grind past crevasses, over snow bridges and up very steep snow. It was so steep after Disappointment Cleaver that there was no safe place to stop and rest. We just had to halt where we were standing to catch our breaths. About 200 ft from the summit I started getting severe headaches, which
held us up a lot. I would take 40 paces or less and have to stop to
let the skull cracking pain go away until I could walk again. With
me taking so long to recover after a few paces one RMI team managed to
pass us just before we reached the Crater. Once at the Crater we
were able to unhook, drop all our gear and take a well earned break.
We then pushed on across the Crater and up to the summit. We got to
the summit at 8:45am after hiking for 7 hours and 45 minutes. |
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 Robert & Jane on the summit of Mount Rainier, 14,410 ft above sea level (4,392m) We stayed on the summit
for 30 minutes, taking photos and enjoying the view. It was blowing
about 10 to 12 mph and was surprisingly warm with the temperature in
the low 40's. Just two days before people were having to crawl to
the summit on their hands and knees because the wind was so strong they
could not stand up. We were very fortunate to catch the weather so
perfect. It could not have been better for us. |
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There was snow on the summit but we had to cross a section of gravel and rock to get from the Crater to the summit. We signed the log book then had lunch at the Crater. We started the downward march from the Crater at 10:05am.
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Copyright Reserved - Created September 2005 - e-mail Jane |
