In 2015, I made my fifth climb on Mt Rainier but my first time going up the Emmons-Winthrop route - which is one the opposite side of the mountain from the more popular disappointment cleaver route. There were 6 of us in total on the climb, two groups of three. This was the 3rd trip I had taken with a few of them, but this was the first time climbing with the rest of them.
2015-06-13
We drove up to Mt Rainier in the morning and, like every other trip with this team, there was an outrageous amount of excitement in the air - you could almost cut it with a knife.
We had a stellar low mountain approach hike. The weather was basically perfect and I always have a great time hiking with this crew. The Emmons/Winthrop route has a longer approach than the Disappointment Cleaver route on the other side of the mountain - but it’s far more pretty in my opinion. The white river valley is lush and green and then it becomes this very open sub-alpine terrain by the time you get to the glacier basin area.
After Glacier basin, you head up the inter glacier - which takes you to one of the most beautiful spots on the moutain (Steamboat Prow) if you continue up it. The route breaks off before you get there though and you travel the last mile or so on the Emmons glacier before you get to camp. The weather continued to be spectacular and the snow was staying relatively firm, despite the heat. The crew remained strong and we got up to camp pretty quickly.
Camp Sherman was our stopping point for the night. We ran into quite a few crews here, but we were able to find a good spot for our tents. Two of them (Noah and Jay) slept in Bivy - which sounded pretty awesome actually, it was going to be a perfect night for it. The only unfortunate part is how many people where here - it was not going to be a quiet night…
Camp Sherman is a really fun spot though - right below steamboat prow, there are great views in all directions and the ranger hut there is kinda cool and historic.
We did some relaxing and had some delicious camp food before heading off to bed. We had an early morning - so we did our best to go to sleep early, despite the busy camp around us.
2015-06-13
As per the usual, we had a 2a start and spent the first few hours climbing in the dark via headlamp. The temp was forecasted to be a lot cooler today than the day before and it was very cold this early in the morning. The sun broke the horizon though and the grandeur of the mountain unfolded. Climbing with this crew is always a riot though - we were making jokes the whole time about pooping with your harness on and remaining roped up. All the way until one of us had to do it - I’m not going to name names, but Amy.
The upper mountain climb was pretty smooth once the sun was up. There were some tricky crevasses near the top of the Winthrop glacier and we had to do a few spot belays. Non of this was particularly technical or dangerous, but it made for some great pictures.
And before we knew it, we made the summit. As with every trip I’ve taken up the mountain, we all kinda collapsed at the top - a combination of joy and exhaustion.
After a bit of rest/recovery, we celebrated. This is a very photogenic crew - or rather, they like to take pictures. Everyone got their turn.
I don’t know why, but whenever we get to a summit - Pam jumps! And somehow, it’s contagious…
Jay had a very special reason to climb today and he made note of it in the logbook.
Before too long, it was time to go down. I got some good pictures on the descent - especially of those heavily crevassed areas that we had to weave through on the way up. The down was definitely trickier than the up on this trip, but it still wasn’t too bad.
There was one particularly narrow crevasse with sheer walls that really showed how deep these things are. The average cravasse on Mt Rainier is about 30 feet deep, but they can be as deep as 70 feet or more. Wouldn’t want to fall into one of these…
The descent started to become tedious once we got below the snowline. We made a few stops to drop layers and try out a bit, but for the most part we just trudged our way down and out.
I was in the lead of the group and Jay was right behind me, with the rest of the crew a half mile or so behind him. I came around this bend and there was a momma bear on the trail - she didn’t seem to care in the slightest that I was there. She was just playing with a small stick - chewing on it and trying to peel the bark off.
A few min later, Jay pulled up and I pointed out the bear to him. We sat and oohed and ahhed for a min, and then I heard a noise behind me. Apparently this momma had cubs and the cubs were just down the hill and on the other side of the trail from us - so we were directly in between the momma and her cubs. We tried to make as much noise as we could and slowly walked away, but the momma didn’t seem to care. The cubs on the other hand wanted to keep their distance from us and were trying to skittishly pass us. As soon as they could sneak around, they raced to get to their momma and then ran up the hill away from us. The momma still seemed totally chill and she kept playing with her stick for a few more minutes until she gave up and headed up the hill after the cubs. I’ve had lots of encounters with bears, but this was the wildest. It could have been really bad, but it ended up being no big deal at all.
A few hours later, we were down and out. We had an impromptu happy hour in the parking lot - complete with some kind of cannabis beverage that Jay had brought. We hung out for a few more hours before we all headed our respective ways back home.
All and all, it was a great trip and I was to have many more with this same crew - which I was very excited about. Here’s to our next adventure!
