[ Mt Rainier ] Day 4: Summit and Back

June 20, 2003 - When I awoke this morning at 2:15AM the conditions were perfect - moonlight sky, no wind, and cold. The Big Dipper was hovering over the Disappointment Cleaver when I first looked out of the tent. A couple parties could be seen below because of their headlamps. After dressing and packing our bags, we dropped the tent poles and anchored it with our extra gear and sleeping bags inside, along with an ice screw, snow picket, and snow on top. A morning wind started to blow as we packed which was very cold. Peter's feet were cold and he contemplated staying behind, but we decided to start hiking and see if they would warm up. Left camp at 3:40am.

The Ingraham Direct got steep quickly but we moved rapidly. The first few crevasse crossings were an adreneline rush. Sun rise was shortly after we topped out of the Direct route and started to traverse onto the Emmons. The wind whiped faster as we moved closer to the summit and at times made it tough to keep both feet on the snow. We reached the summit crater rim at 9:10am, five and a half hours after leaving Ingraham. Next, we dropped our packs and hiked across the crater to the true summit to sign the register and take our glamour photos.

The summit stay wasn't long because the cloud ceiling had moved up significantly since morning and the wind was not letting up. During the descent, the sunlight gave us the opportunity to see crevasses and snowfields that we missed on the hike up. However, the sun also softened the snow conditions, increasing the risk of crossing snowbridges. We noticed a large part of the headwall above Ingraham had given way since we passed in the morning. We arrived at Ingraham at 1pm without incident, packed up the tent and gear, and then left for Muir at 2pm. The clouds engulfed Muir just as we arrived and then started to drop light snow.

From Muir we unroped and navigated the route to Paradise by following the wands and our compass bearings. We stumbled into Paradise by 5pm and enjoyed a savory dinner at the Paradise Inn, where we stayed the night before departing.

Sunrise
Sunrise over the Emmons Glacier

Ingraham Flats and Little Tahoma
Little Tahoma is on the left and Ingraham is 1,400 feet below

Hike to Summit
The long, slow hike to the crater rim that always seems just over the ridge

Switchback
One of many switchbacks and crevasses on the final glacier

Summit Crater
After coming all that way we had to go to the true summit, so we dropped our packs and made the 30 minute hike

Peter and Zach
As you can tell it was too cold and windy to remove any clothing for these pictures

Garrett and Zach
Where's the helicopter?

Crevasse crossing
The scariest crevasses I didn't want to stop and take pictures of but this one wasn't too bad

Ingraham Headwall
The headwall is to the right and those are blocks of ice from it the size of a small car

Ice Fall
Ice fall from the Ingraham headwall

Crevasse
View from a snowbridge on the Ingraham Direct route

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