Good Thing We Got Everything Wrong Out of the Way Early…
The adventure kicked off Friday evening with a real *classic*: turning into the northbound express lanes during peak southbound traffic. As we cruised north, we glided past miles of bumper-to-bumper southbound cars, soon, we too would be joining them.
Our first opportunity to exit was all the way in the University District. I was furious at myself, but Johannes, in his infinite wisdom, said it was simply “an opportunity to develop patience.” The detour wasn’t a disaster, but it did add about 30 minutes to our Tacoma meetup. Nothing Else That Bad Could Happen…
Halfway to White River Campground, I realized I’d *forgotten my crampons*. Back to REI we went, where they had a pair ready. Thank god for REI! By the time we finally rolled into the Ranger Creek airstrip at 8:30 PM, I was joking that all these mishaps were actually perfect timing because we avoided arriving “too early.”Luckily everything that could go wrong already had and nothing else could possibly deviate us from our plan to hike up to Camp Schurman the following morning. Nope! Saturday morning came, and we woke up at 5:30 in order to be the first ones at the Ranger Station. I mean getting there early meant we were basically guaranteed a spot at that camp.The ranger was resolute, there weren’t any spots at Camp Schurman and we would either need to wait a day or find something else to do. We opted for option one; wait a day and compress the trip into two days vs. three. [image: IMG_9401(1).jpg] [image: IMG_9399.jpg]
That Saturday became a mellow but stunning acclimation day. We hiked from Sunrise over to Fremont Lookout, soaked up the views, and found excellent camping back at White River. The campground was peaceful, no loud generators this year, which made it a great way to unwind before the arduous journey. 10k feet to the summit. Up to Camp Schurman The Push to Camp Schurman Sunday morning was another 5:30 AM wake-up, though it took us a while to get moving. We hit the trail to Camp Schurman at around 7:30. The route was beautiful, with water partway up the Inter Glacier and plenty of bird calls, one of us even suggested an app to identify “bird noses”. We reached Camp Schurman at around 3:30pm and I was in bed by around 5pm. I had hoped to get 8 hours of sleep, but no one actually sleeps up there anyways. Summit Day
We were up at 10pm, just missing sunset. The snow had already firmed up. We were roped up and it was time to summit this bad boy.
Roped up, I took the lead, navigating across two glaciers and weaving around crevasses. The route was less traveled and unmaintained, but the boot pack was solid, no real navigation drama.
We reached the top of the Winthrop by about 6am, and I was soooo tired. Just about fell asleep on my feet. But we all felt that way. We pushed through to the base of the summit, where we took a quick nap. Spaced out as another climber was talking to us. He knew what was up. But he had some Samoas and it was an instant friendship.
We rallied for the final push. This was my mom’s third attempt at Rainier, her first two, with my late grandfather, had been thwarted by sick guides and bad weather. Standing on that summit together was the end of a 30-year journey. The last time I’d been up there, I’d promised to bring her someday. Promise kept! [image: IMG_9422.jpg]
Back to Camp
We descended to camp by noon, my rope handling so sloppy that slack kept sliding under my mom’s feet. Somehow, she and Johannes tolerated it.
When we got back, I experienced maybe one of the most incredible naps in my life. I mean this nap felt… good. [image: IMG_0544.jpg]
We *planned* to leave at 1 PM. We actually left at 2. Above the Inter Glacier, we got ready for the best part: 2,000 feet of glissading. My flimsy trash bag was useless, but the ride was still a blast, right up until I yard-saled my gear. Thankfully, Johannes rescued it before I had to climb back up. [image: IMG_0558.jpg]
We reached White River around 6:30 PM, cracked open cold beers by the river (because every German-led hike ends with a beer), and let the snacks flow. Then it was time to head home, tired, happy, and proud. [image: IMG_0561.jpg]
The adventure kicked off Friday evening with a real *classic*: turning into the northbound express lanes during peak southbound traffic. As we cruised north, we glided past miles of bumper-to-bumper southbound cars, soon, we too would be joining them.
Our first opportunity to exit was all the way in the University District. I was furious at myself, but Johannes, in his infinite wisdom, said it was simply “an opportunity to develop patience.” The detour wasn’t a disaster, but it did add about 30 minutes to our Tacoma meetup. Nothing Else That Bad Could Happen…
Halfway to White River Campground, I realized I’d *forgotten my crampons*. Back to REI we went, where they had a pair ready. Thank god for REI! By the time we finally rolled into the Ranger Creek airstrip at 8:30 PM, I was joking that all these mishaps were actually perfect timing because we avoided arriving “too early.”Luckily everything that could go wrong already had and nothing else could possibly deviate us from our plan to hike up to Camp Schurman the following morning. Nope! Saturday morning came, and we woke up at 5:30 in order to be the first ones at the Ranger Station. I mean getting there early meant we were basically guaranteed a spot at that camp.The ranger was resolute, there weren’t any spots at Camp Schurman and we would either need to wait a day or find something else to do. We opted for option one; wait a day and compress the trip into two days vs. three. [image: IMG_9401(1).jpg] [image: IMG_9399.jpg]
That Saturday became a mellow but stunning acclimation day. We hiked from Sunrise over to Fremont Lookout, soaked up the views, and found excellent camping back at White River. The campground was peaceful, no loud generators this year, which made it a great way to unwind before the arduous journey. 10k feet to the summit. Up to Camp Schurman The Push to Camp Schurman Sunday morning was another 5:30 AM wake-up, though it took us a while to get moving. We hit the trail to Camp Schurman at around 7:30. The route was beautiful, with water partway up the Inter Glacier and plenty of bird calls, one of us even suggested an app to identify “bird noses”. We reached Camp Schurman at around 3:30pm and I was in bed by around 5pm. I had hoped to get 8 hours of sleep, but no one actually sleeps up there anyways. Summit Day
We were up at 10pm, just missing sunset. The snow had already firmed up. We were roped up and it was time to summit this bad boy.
Roped up, I took the lead, navigating across two glaciers and weaving around crevasses. The route was less traveled and unmaintained, but the boot pack was solid, no real navigation drama.
We reached the top of the Winthrop by about 6am, and I was soooo tired. Just about fell asleep on my feet. But we all felt that way. We pushed through to the base of the summit, where we took a quick nap. Spaced out as another climber was talking to us. He knew what was up. But he had some Samoas and it was an instant friendship.
We rallied for the final push. This was my mom’s third attempt at Rainier, her first two, with my late grandfather, had been thwarted by sick guides and bad weather. Standing on that summit together was the end of a 30-year journey. The last time I’d been up there, I’d promised to bring her someday. Promise kept! [image: IMG_9422.jpg]
Back to Camp
We descended to camp by noon, my rope handling so sloppy that slack kept sliding under my mom’s feet. Somehow, she and Johannes tolerated it.
When we got back, I experienced maybe one of the most incredible naps in my life. I mean this nap felt… good. [image: IMG_0544.jpg]
We *planned* to leave at 1 PM. We actually left at 2. Above the Inter Glacier, we got ready for the best part: 2,000 feet of glissading. My flimsy trash bag was useless, but the ride was still a blast, right up until I yard-saled my gear. Thankfully, Johannes rescued it before I had to climb back up. [image: IMG_0558.jpg]
We reached White River around 6:30 PM, cracked open cold beers by the river (because every German-led hike ends with a beer), and let the snacks flow. Then it was time to head home, tired, happy, and proud. [image: IMG_0561.jpg]
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