I've put together a Google Earth file which has our GPS route on Rainier and, which also has all of my climb photos embedded within the file. If you haven't used Google Earth before, you're missing out. Pretty cool program!
So, we started early Friday morning with a bus ride up to the Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier. We stopped quickly at the lodge to top-off our water bottle and take care of personal business and then headed out. The agenda for the first day was a 4.5 mile hike from Paradise Lodge (elev. 5,400 ft.) to Camp Muir (elev. 10,188 ft.).
The first day hike was fairly straight-forward with a moderate pace. We were carrying 40 lbs. packs, but everyone seemed to be in great shape and ready for the climb. Overall, this was pretty light duty ... I felt terrific (the hard conditioning work really paid off). It was a great opportunity to enjoy the lower part of the mountain and the Muir Snowfields.
Climbing Group 'A'
Muir Snowfields, Mt. Rainier in the Background
After about four and a half hours of climbing we arrived at Camp Muir. Camp Muir is the half-way point (in elevation) and would be our camp for the evening. Camp Muir is a pretty cool location on the mountain. Sleeping accomodations are ... errrr ... horrible. The guide service has a large plywood, tar-covered box that they have available for sleeping.
We were told to choose a bunk space, prepare our summit pack, cook dinner, and then get into bed at around 6PM. Our summit push would begin sometime around midnight, with an expected summit at around 7 or 8AM. Sleeping was tough! Nerves, weird noises created by strangers sleeping 5 feet away, people getting up to use the can every few minutes. Mostly, all of the climbers agreed that we basically laid in the dark for the next 6 hours waiting for the signal to get started. And the smell! Everyone had shed their clothes from the first day's climb ... hoping the socks would dry for the final hike out the next day. It was horrible.
RMI Guides Camp Muir Hut
Inside the RMI Hut
2 comments:
took care of business? LOL... I'm guessing it wasn't checking emails, returning phone calls, etc.
I need to stop reading your blog or I'm going to want to climb some crazy mountain.
How did you link the gps coordinates to the pictures?
Very cool
Ezra
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