Mount Rainier Climb, July 2010

We came, we saw, and .....we carried heavy packs! This year's annual Mt Rainier trip was a blast! Geoff, Joe, Jane, Dan and I had a great 4 days on the mountain. We had excellent conditions, with good freezes and firm snow conditions, the Emmons Glacier Route was is great condition for climbing. Below are some photo highlights of our trip.



Here is the team assembled at the trailhead, just about to put our packs on our back.


On the first day approach, the trail winds through Old Growth Forest and occasionally has great views of the mountain. Mount Rainier in this photo towering!



An evening view of the upper Emmons and Winthrop Glaciers. There is a lot of ice on this mountain.


Here are Jane and Dan on the lower part of the Emmons, on the way up to Camp Schurman.



High Camp at Emmons Flats. This elevation at about 9700 feet. We spent 2 nights on the glacier at this spot.



Here is Jane nearing the top of the "Corridor" on the Emmons Glacier at sunrise. This section allows a fairly reasonable passage up the glacier, with steeper icefalls on either side.



The penitente farm near the summit. Skiing anyone? I don't think so! These weird snow formations were difficult to walk through, and in some cases they were a couple of feet high. Luckily, we didn't have to travel through much of this type of terrain.



Jane and Dan on the summit at about 9am on July 29, 2010. It was cold and windy so we were only there for a few short minutes. We did see a Horizon Air plane fly by us on the same level on its approach or departure from Seattle. What a treat!


All in all, we gave the mountain all we had, and had a great time doing it. Thanks everyone for a great trip!