Mount Rainier via Dissapointment Cleaver - June 17-19, 2011

My ninja self with Sam and Lee atop the highest, most heavily glaciated volcano in the lower 48!

Summary Recap:
Day 1 (Friday)

• Paradise (5,400 ft) to Camp Muir (10,080 ft)
• Blistering hot ascent on the Muir snowfield

Day 2 (Saturday)

• Camp Muir to High Camp (Ingraham Flats, Ingraham Glacier: 11,200 ft)
• Overnight snowstorm turns back other group summit pushes
• Storm continues throughout morning: 3-4 fresh inches of snow
• High winds continue throughout Saturday night

Day 3 - Summit Day (Sunday / Fathers Day)

• High Camp to Summit (14,411 ft)
• Wake up 12:30 am, breakfast, prep for final climb
• On glacier by 2 am
• Ascend Disappointment Cleaver and traverse the crevasses of Emmons Glacier
• Columbia Crest crater rim at 6:55 am
• Summit at 7:25 am
• Back to high camp by 10 am
• Pack up high camp, head back to Camp Muir at 11 am
• Lunch at Muir, leave at noon
• Descend Muir snowfield to Paradise
• Arrive at Paradise at 2:15 pm

KEEP READING...

Some perspective on Mt. Rainier...

Here are a few routes along the eastern face...

I will be climbing via the Muir Route, a 3-day climb with 2 nights on the mountain, essentially passing through Camp Muir at around 10,000 ft. To get to Camp Muir from the Paradise Trailhead at the south, we'll likely be ascending the Skyline Trail (in green) until it intersects with Pebble Creek. Once we hit the snow field, there is no 'established trail' and the route becomes more dynamic. We'll head straight up the Muir Snowfield for about 3,000 ft until reaching the rock out-cropping known as Camp Muir; this is merely day one. The next day, we'll set out across Cowlitz Glacier until reaching the next major dividing landmark known as Cathedral Gap. Night two will consist of tents placed somewhere in the vicinity of Ingraham Flats, a relatively 'flat' spot on the Ingraham Glacier. Camp will of course be set up only after a methodical inspection for hidden crevasses has been conducted - this usually consists of a roped-in member probing the snow with his ice axe and then marking the safe territory. Finally summit day starts bright and early at midnight-ish, with another 5-6 hours of steady climbing over to Disappointment Cleaver and up the remaining terrain of the Ingraham Glacier to the Columbia Crest via the Ingraham Headwall or DC variation. Finally, after traversing the crater to the high point at 14,411 ft, we'll make the slow but high-spirited descent in reverse, back through high camp to tear down, then to Camp Muir and finally down the snowfield to Paradise.