Mt. Rainier is the large snow capped peak you see south of Seattle
(you will typically fly right over it when arriving at Sea-Tac ... quite
impressive on a clear day). Great closeup shot at the end of this
Classic Rainier Beer TV Commercial
and even
just the audio on that is timeless.
Mt. Rainier is 14,410 feet ... I had always thought it would be fun to climb
it ... and my brother Kurt decided one year we should do it. We picked a
full moon weekend on August 21-22, 1994, and Kurt arranged stuff with the
Mt. Rainier Guide Service (this is how lots of folks do it). After a day of
orientation with crampons/ice axes/ropes/etc., you depart
Paradise (about 5,000 feet) late in morning, and climb to 10,000 feet.
They have a cabin up there that you go to sleep (or try to) in the
early evening. Wake up is just after midnight ... you put the crampons on,
rope up, and away you go to the top. This picture is from
Disappointment Cleaver (about 12,500) as the Sun comes up.
From left to right we have Kurt, Alek, and Myke.
It is pretty cool to get to the top of this big pile of rock and snow ... since it is an old volcano, there is a crater rim at the top.
It was a nice surprise to come back to the cabin at 10,000 and see some folks had climbed up to meet us. From left to right, we have Trish, Kurt, Mary, Alek, Myke, Dad, Mom.
