The 14er Hogs' Mt. Rainier Adventure
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Our group climbs 14,000' peaks as a hobby and has been looking forward to Mt. Rainier for over 3 years. Mt. Rainier would be our 40th peak over 14000 feet. We "ramped up" to Rainier by doing Mt. Shasta in July, '98 and then climbing on the Palisade Glacier in the high Sierras for a birthday party last year and climbing Mt. Sill earlier this year. With permits in hand, we entered White River Campground at Mt. Rainier National Park as ready as we would ever be.
Our group for this effort had dropped in number from 12 who "thought they might like to go" to seven by the week before the trip. Then our senior member and "team dad", Gene Blackmore was pulled from the list by his doctor because of a respiratory infection. This was a big disappointment for all. That left six: Jim Cline, (our teacher and detail man-always aware of how far, when, where, and our voice of caution…"do you really think we can jump that crevasse??" guy. Carl Gunn,(our chief prayer warrior and nice-guy-to-a-fault member…"I'm dying of thirst but I don't want to hold these guys up by stopping to get my water, so I just won't say anything.") Monte Hammer, (our "organizer guy"-just ask him for anything. He's got it in his outside pocket) served as our Prusik knot (monkey hand) and sling instructor. John Clemens, (Me -now most senior member at age 60 and team optimist…"sure we can jump across the crevasse, just send Rob first with his ice tools!"). Rob Clemens, (nice to have a lead rock climber and wildlife biologist along on a deal like this) led the first rope and served as another voice of caution…"let's traverse around the end of this one instead of jumping it." Cathy Clemens, (Team cheerful person, fashion statement, and possibly strongest climber.) Professional Rainier guide we met near the top: "You're supposed to look exhausted by now, bent over and barely able to take the next step-but you look like you're window shopping at the mall!" We arrived from various points of the compass at White River Campground on Tuesday afternoon, 17 July 2001 and began setting up camp in a fine misty rain. We joined the wives in a group prayer, then they gave us one last long look-as though we were unruly children about to do something bad-and they took off for comfortable motel rooms and some days of shopping and sightseeing. Monte got us all to size cut and tie our prusik slings and showed us how to use them to get out of the crevasse if we jumped and missed. We ate and went to bed dreaming of a clearer weather day tomorrow.  Sure enough, morning brought a bit of clearing and even a rare peak at the mighty mountain in all her glory. We hit the well-maintained Glacier Basin trail about 8:30, and enjoyed the beautiful meadows and stands of pine along the Inter Fork of the White River. We reached the Glacier Basin Campground at lunchtime, took off the packs, and enjoyed a break. A local bird, a Nutcracker, turned out to be a camp robber. He hit the bag of trail mix at the speed of light-poked a hole in the bag-and flew off with a beakfull of our best snack food before we could say "what's that??"
After lunch we started the steeper, un-maintained trail leading up the moraine to the Inter Glacier. The Emmons Glacier is split from the Winthrop Glacier by a rock formation known as Steamboat Prow. The Inter Glacier is the smaller glacier that has formed behind Steamboat Prow, between the two big glaciers. Camp Schurman, our goal for that night's camp, is at the top of the Inter Glacier-at the tip of Steamboat Prow.
 By mid-afternoon we had reached the base of the Inter Glacier-"Rope-up Rock," where individual climbers with a degree of individual freedom become "ropes" of climbers, moving as a unit, with set intervals of 50' or so between climbers (that makes communication difficult) and the need for "group mind" about how fast, where, when to stop, etc. The "rope experience" is a big part of the "Rainier experience" because it is unique to this kind of climbing. We found that the more assertive among us did fine-communicating needs at they came up, but the nicest, gentlest among us would wait too long to communicate needs. Blisters had already formed before a moleskin break, or the heat exhaustion from too many layers had already set in, or the dehydration sickness had taken its toll before we realized someone couldn't reach their water. We could have done better in this area. Our two ropes were moving slower and slower as unmet needs made their effects known on different climbers. As we passed Mt. Ruth and made our way along Ruth Ridge, our day was running out. At 8:00 p.m. we were at the top of Ruth Ridge and realized we just didn't have the energy-even if the daylight held out-to make it to Camp Schurman. Rob took his rope up another  200 yards and found Camp Curtis, with its inviting numbered campsites, at 9,000', set high on a windy ridge with a commanding view of the Emmons glacier next to us and a sea of clouds that covered the entire world, it seemed, far below us. A quick cup of our favorite "high altitude meal," (hot Ramen) and we ducked into our tents while the wind came up and the temperatures went way, way down. We were completely exhausted, couldn't get warm-so we fell into our sleeping bags wearing every layer of clothing we had with us. Not much sleep that night as the wind combined with rain and then corn snow in a determined effort to test the manufacturer's claims about our 4-season tents. Hour after hour the wind and hail tore at the tents as we re-read the warranty data by the bouncing light of a candle lantern. But as first light came at the end of at least 40 hours of night (it seemed), all was well-no damage, and the wind and weather were giving way to a brighter day.
Camp Schurman became our goal for the day. At 9460' it was not far off vertically. Only about a mile distance, but involved a downclimb of the rock formation we were on. The Wedge that splits the two big glaciers, a trip across a section of crevasses on the Emmons Glacier, and back up to the front of Steamboat Prow where the solar toilet provides a more civilized alternative to the dreaded blue bag system used on the open snow.
 The hardest part of the whole climb turned out to be the down climb across a combination of rock and sticky mud that made the big packs a real problem for balance and delicate moves. From that point it was just more hard work, chugging up the snow. We did get by some of our biggest and most interesting crevasses in this area. We came into Schurman Alpine Campground at the perfect time. We found three of the relatively few campsites located on the dirt rather than on the snow empty and waiting for us. More good fortune: there was an active seep, a small pool of real water provided by the warm sun that day, where we could fill our water jugs by pumping with our water purifiers, without melting the snow first with our camp stoves. That gave us all afternoon to nap, relax, recover, and hold a little class on crevasse rescue, self-arrest techniques, and glacier climbing. We wanted to get an early start the next morning, so we "carboed up" (ate as much as we could stand to eat) and went to bed by 4:30 p.m.
 Daybreak found us high above and out of sight of Camp Schurman, rest-stepping up what seemed an endless series of snowfields and some high-exposure, high angle ice fields that provided inspiring views mixed with some nervous concern. Rob's water bottle provided a demonstration of the danger as the strap holding it to his pack failed. It slid and bounced down the ice for a thousand feet and disappeared into a crevasse. No volunteers for the rescue attempt. We could see from the location of Liberty Cap, to our right, that we were nearing the top of the Emmons Glacier. We met an older couple from Norway who had been turned back at the Bergschrund Step and were digging a shelter in the snow to wait for their climbing team to return for them from the top. He was in interesting fellow who knew a lot about the snow. He estimated from the sound it made under foot that it was about 20° below freezing. The Bergschrund is at the headwall of a glacier, where the shoulder drops down from the summit, and a huge crevasse marks the area where it is starting to move down the mountain, breaking away from the more stable snowfield above. As we approached the Emmons bergschrung, we could see the infamous Bergschrung Step, where a block of ice had broken loose to form a snow bridge across the major crevasse, but left a wall of overhanging ice for the climbers to scale before moving up any further.
 perfect weather, no wind, and a view that was unbelievable. We rest-stepped our way above the Emmons and onto the Columbia Crest, the final slope to the top. We could see that footprints were up to a foot deep in what had been slushy snow the day before, but for us, it was frozen solid. We crunched along happily on top of the mess, careful to avoid twisting a foot or leg in the deep tracks. We were 200 yards from the summit at 9:30 when it happened. First a wispy little cloud sneaked over the summit, then clouds came around both sides and swept up to where we were hiking. Finally we were in a white-out, with high winds buffeting us as we struggled to mount extra layers of clothing and get into our parkas and get our hoods up. Corn snow was soon pounding on us. But it was too late to stop us. We were soon on the summit. Rob's beard was iced, our noses and eyebrows (all we offered Mother Nature at that point) were smarting from the cold and threatening to freeze solid. We could see nothing but the happy eyes and exuberant gestures of our party, and the one other climber who was on top, busy taking our group picture. I suggested we might hunker down and see if the storm would pass in an hour or so, giving us a view from the top. Rob, the more experienced and safety minded voice, recommended that we should entertain the thought of getting off the top…perhaps RIGHT NOW would be a good time. With the voices of our wives/mothers echoing his vote in our heads, we dropped off the screaming summit into the safer white-gray of the route downward. By the time we reached the Step again, the weather was breaking a bit, so we enjoyed a nutrition break while Rob belayed each of us back down the overhang. He then lowered himself with his two-ice-ax technique. We saw a bedroll deep in the crevasse near the step. Someone decided not to get heroic-they just left it there. We decided we didn't want it either. With the break in the weather, the day was warming, and snow bridges that were firm going up were becoming softer and less reliable on the way down. Guides and rangers had marked each crossing at what they judged to be the safest point using wands, bamboo sticks about 3' high with tiny flags on top. Some even had reflectors to help those coming up by headlamp. Monte was leading our rope downward as he crossed one of these snow bridges right at the wand. With a snap, it gave way and started to sink into the crevasse. Monte jumped and rolled in time to make it to the far side of the crevasse, but had enough momentum to keep sliding down the glacier. John saw the fall and went into self-arrest position on top of his ice ax. The rope went tight between the two, and John was pulled about two feet toward the crevasse, the pick of his ax making a 6" deep gash in the glacier. The glacier brake worked, and we both stood up and grinned at each other. "Now that was FUN," said Monte. "Let's do it again," I said, "but this time go on in so we can get some crevasse rescue practice and see if these slings really work!" Monte leaned out over the crevasse and snatched the offending wand, marched up the length of the crevasse, and planted it at a safer crossing location. The rest of our crew crossed without incident. Some of the crevasses were wider than we remember them on the way up, with soft snow providing unstable footing near the edges. We took several running leaps to clear several of them. That got our hearts going! "Dad! Put down that camera and give me some tension on this rope while I jump!" someone said. We worked our way down to Camp Schurman across scenic snowfields we had only seen by headlamp on the way up-we enjoyed a whole new look at the glacier. We reached base camp at about 4:30, where Carl had been pumping water for us and praying every hour for our safety. See we did have help! He had recovered pretty well from dehydration sickness that had kept him from making the summit climb with us. We were exhausted, and after another quick hot Ramen, collapsed into our sleeping bags for a 12-hour snooze.
 Next morning we found a fresh layer of soft snow covering everything, and a sky that promised to clear in an hour or two. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, chatted with other climbers who were going up or down, and who had or had not summited. It was Saturday morning, and the campsites dotted the snow-probably 30 tents dug into the glacier. Some parties had been turned back by the storm, some delayed their attempt until the next day. Some, like us, got their timing just right and summited, some with a view, some not.  We packed the big packs again, roped up, and headed down the glacier. When we reached the Inter Glacier again, we found that you can loose a thousand vertical feet in a few minutes at about 20 miles per hour using the glissade chutes. Shouting phrases in Texan (I think) is a requirement, and Jim says this is still the most fun you can have with your clothes on. We didn't stop until we ran out of snow at Rope-up Rock. EEEEEHHAAAAAAA! We took on some Gu as we took off the ropes-becoming individuals again instead of part of a "rope." We hiked across the rocky moraine and down the steep, scenic trail to Glacier Basin. From there the trail is deluxe, and the scenery takes the mind off of the heavy load, hurting feet, back, knees…well almost. Cathy met two knights in shining armor who insisted on trading their day pack for her monster pack for the last mile of the trail. She resisted a little at first, but smiled all the way down with the tiny pack flopping happily on her back. We met the wives, who had been getting into mischief of their own, at White River Campground. They proved their level of love and devotion by kissing us despite what we smelled like. We checked out with the rangers and rushed back to the motel where we took that much-needed shower and went out for the first non-dehydrated meal we'd had in days.
More Pictures to follow soon. |
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