Hiking into Observation Rock
8/17/2024
It’s always interesting doing alpine starts because you get glimpses of dreams you usually wouldn’t remember. This morning, I had a couple innocuous dreams; one in which I was skiing with a friend and kept catching glimpses of my girlfriend through the trees. And another, where my uncle and I were leaving a vacation house in the evening, but were getting snacks from the kitchen before heading out. Most of these dreams are just mind chatter, but sometime I get something of a premonition.
In order to get down to Mowich Lake by 6:30am, we had to leave Seattle around 4am. I carpooled with Miles and Tadashi and reached Mowich by 6:15am. We met with our Mountaineer group and were on the trail up to Spray Park by 7am. On the way up to Observation Rock, we had a remarkable double rainbow and a near crossing with a small black bear.
Amongst the interesting sightings, we also discussed an important range of topics. One such topic included FKTs. One of the guys had seen a Strava segment that crossed the Denver Airport. I’d later look up that segment, and would find that the segment did in fact exist. It’s called the ‘Gate Change Gnar’. It’s .1 miles, with a fastest time of about 19 seconds. While we were on the topic of the Denver airport, one of the team leads mentioned that it’s also subject to a number of controversies. The airport was about $2 billion over budget, which caused the public to speculate about where the extra funds went. One theory is that the extensive network of tunnels beneath the airport connect to a remote NORAD facility.
We reached camp around 10:30am, and set up before heading out to test our crevasse rescue skills. The sun was high and it was about 70 degrees. We were up at Observation Rock to get assessed for our crevasse rescue and ice climbing skills.
The snow was soft by the time we demonstrated our 6:1 hauling systems. We were able to finish getting checked off before noon. We finished so early that we had time to hike another 30 minutes up to Observation Rock in order to demonstrate our multi-pitch ice ascent skills.
We were at 8000 feet and there was an unusual amount of snow on top of the ice (several feet), so it was more of a multi-pitch snow climb with high daggering than anything else. Nonetheless, Miles and I were able to top out the steep snow field in 3 pitches with a 70m rope.
The wind was beginning to pick up as we rounded Observation Rock and headed back to camp. I broke from the group to jump in glacial pools just outside the camp. The water was icy cold and unbearable, but the view of Rainier and sinister clouds developing around it were awe inspiring. Just as I was getting back to camp, signs that a larger storm had begun to develop.
The wind was beginning to pick up as we rounded Observation Rock and headed back to camp. I broke from the group to jump in glacial pools just outside the camp. The water was icy cold and unbearable, but the view of Rainier and sinister clouds developing around it were awe inspiring. Just as I was getting back to camp, signs that a larger storm had begun to develop.
By the time I had changed into my clothes and started boiling water, rain droplets had descended on camp. The group dispersed to their tenets, sensing the storm beginning to mature. Crouching by Mile’s jet boil, the hail began to fall. In a few minutes the hail grew to be paintball-sized. A few of us hunched next to a rock for cover, but when it became apparent the hail would keep coming we were forced back to our respective tents.
As I lay in my tent, the thunder, lightening and rain picked up. It would turn out to be an severe thunder storm, forcing us to hunker down in our tents for the next 12 hours.
Surviving the Storm
8/18/2024
With the 50mph wind gusts and torrential downpour none of us got much sleep. Four of the seven members of our group had tent malfunctions, with one experiencing a full blown tent failure. The carnage was apparent when I came to find a fully collapse tent and one of our camp leads in his briefs.
It started the night before with paintball sized hail. A storm had ventured up from Oregon with cloud to ground lightning, severe hail and damaging winds. We were caught in that storm at 8,000 ft on a fairly exposed part of the mountain. We hadn’t predicted such a severe storm and as a result, several members of the group only brought 2 season tents, and had even been contemplating bringing bivvy sacks. Those with 2 season tents were wetted out quickly and moisture penetrate their sleeping bags. All their soft goods were pretty much soaked by morning. Needless to say, we packed up quickly in the morning to get off of that mountain.
Miles 4-season tent broke under the strain of the storm. But Mia’s 3 season version held up just fine. I’d be sure to let my cousin know since he works at MSR.
It started the night before with paintball sized hail. A storm had ventured up from Oregon with cloud to ground lightning, severe hail and damaging winds. We were caught in that storm at 8,000 ft on a fairly exposed part of the mountain. We hadn’t predicted such a severe storm and as a result, several members of the group only brought 2 season tents, and had even been contemplating bringing bivvy sacks. Those with 2 season tents were wetted out quickly and moisture penetrate their sleeping bags. All their soft goods were pretty much soaked by morning. Needless to say, we packed up quickly in the morning to get off of that mountain.
On the way back from the trip, I reflected on a couple important lessons. For one, it should’ve been clear prior to the stormfall that it would be moderate to severe. Members of the group had mentioned the foreboding forecast earlier in the morning, and there were signs that the weather degrading throughout the day. Towards evening, the winds had increased and storm clouds had appeard over the horizon.
To be clear, I hadn’t checked the weather forecast before we left. However, even after there were numerous signs that a severe storm was approaching, I risked it for the buiscuit and ran the risk of being stranded in an icy lake under heavy hail. I lucked out this time, and will remember this experience when a series of foreboding signs present themselves again. Equally important, however, is to remember that everything seems obvious in retrospect. The information was there if you looked back for it, but in the end who could’ve predicted we’d get swept up in category IV hurricane.
Mt. Rainer with fresh dusting of snow… and hardly a sign of the incredible atmospheric disturbance it just withstood.
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