hippos_are_evil

Howdy, Wanted to get people's thoughts on the upcoming snow dump and avy danger. Was aiming to go up South Side Adams Sunday but unsure with potentially 6" new snow.

Trip: Mt. Rainier - Bike Tour Mountaineering -> DC Route Date: 7/18/2014 Trip Report: Terry Campbell and I rode our bikes from Portland to Rainier, climbed the DC route and rode home over the course of 6 days. This was our second climb of this type, we did Mt. Jefferson two years ago in similar pain and style. Trip We took 3 days to ride up to Paradise; our first day going over Old Mans Pass (hitting 45+mph on the way down), and staying at Swift Reservoir near Mt. St. Helens. The ride along the Old Highway in the Gorge is quite nice now. Our second day climbed another bigass hill with a long (20mile) descent that would be good training for mountain biking season with its broken tarmac. We found a sweet camping spot on the river past Packwood and passed the time talking about Goran Kropp and how he carried like 140lbs of stuff on his back. My inner dialogue decided to stop complaining about our 50ish pounds of gear and food. Our third day was pretty much just hills up to Paradise. Terry cruised easily up the hills because he's not human. I stopped a lot to 'take photos' en route. I cursed my weak body and the fact I had a motorcycle at home that could easily make it up this hill. We stayed at Paradise Inn in those sweet airy rooms - I joke, it was stuffy as hell. However we did destroy dinner and dessert downstairs. On day four we got up early to eat our weight in bacon and eggs at breakfast before heading up to Camp Muir. Once there, Terry melted water while I watched. I eventually chipped in and set up the tent and a nice set of snow stairs. After not sleeping in the tent for 5 hours we decided to head up early instead of wait until midnight. By 9:30 we were in the boot pack heading up to Ingram Flats. Besides me being a wimp at the ladder crossing, things went smoothly until 13,000 when a scary animal with large shiny green eyes hurtled down the bootpack. This caused Terry to think I had AMS as I stepped out of the bootpack saying "I think I'll let this have the right of way". (I might've thought it was a monster, it turned out to be a black fox) We hit the summit crater near 4am and trudged over to the last summit hill, where we debated if that spot counted as a 'summit', or if we should go up to the true summit. After resting and eating a bit we decided to go to the top and scream into the wind. Two minutes later, pausing to sign the register, we were on the way back to Muir. I had seen awesome photos of sunrises on Mt. Rainier before, but seeing them in person was something all together different. The light was perfect and the small amount of haze in the valleys really made the views spectacular. We took our time going down to base camp in order to enjoy the views and let people use the bootpack going up. The crevasses were more exciting when you could see their full extent. Once at camp we jammed everything into the packs and hustled down to our bikes at Paradise. We re-packed our bike bags after eating some real food and headed down the hill to the West. We resolved to not trace our incoming route as the hills would have been less than fun now. We made a slight tactical error when we bypassed the only open hotels on the way out, only to end up in Morton with no available hotel or camping in the area. After Terry and I ate our fill at the very excellent mexican restaurant, my lady was nice enough to drive all the way up and ferry us to a hotel in Randle for the night (thank you Rachel). After 3 breakfasts in Randle, we were dropped back off in Morton so we could ride the 130 miles back home. The ride home was a blur of gas station stops for treats and chocolate milk, interrupted by a bout of scary bridge riding from Longview. We ended the ride with a great ride at the golden hour across the St. Johns Bridge and an easy cruise to home. Thanks to Terry for an awesome trip. Pics Le start Columbia River Gorge New bike trail in Gorge Cleaning up in the Swift Reservoir near Mt. St. Helens Repacking for the climb Start of day four To Muir Camp Muir Sunset at Camp Muir My nemesis Summit Summit crater On way down Sunrise Terry waiting for me I assume Little Tahoma Packing up for bikes St. Johns Bridge Last block Gear Notes: Axe, crampons and sunscreen Approach Notes: 180 Miles on bike via Columbia Gorge and Wind River Highway.

also try abebooks.com: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=jeff&sts=t&tn=oregon+high

As of yesterday it was really good, the snow was great for cramponing and even seemed less steep than other years, who knows after a week of warm weather though. I would imagine there'll be a pretty deep bootpack for the old chute now, there were like 60 people on sunday

Sunday morning 95% of people were going up old chute, the snow was in great shape and was pretty mellow.

I was down there last week and they had the road cleared almost to the gate by Bachelor. If the gate is still closed you could bring a bike and ride the road to the trailheads.

I'm going up Friday morning and will have a look see. was it over to the climbers left/west side of the glissade hydro-tubes?

I'm going camping on s. sister tomorrow night and can report back the snow wed.

I'm going to go camp at Illumination Rock tonight. If you'd like pics of anything in particular let me know. I'm leaving at 2:30

I just used this tent on top of hood and it worked out pretty well. It had condensation (that froze on inside), but it was still warmer than outside for sure. I'm just over 6 foot and the foot and head of my bag touched the ends of the tent, but not severely. It had plenty of room for me and all my crap. With two people it would be OK for just the people and not any gear. But it's uber small when packed and easy to take down. Putting it up takes a bit to get the poles in the right alignment and feels burly.

I just used the Exped Downmat UL7 (72") in 10 degree weather and it worked out really well, I didn't get any cold from the snow underneath. Plus it was just over a pound, so that's a nice addition.

Really cool show guys. +1 on submit video, that was really well done.

That 2nd to last picture is very cool. Almost looks like a cartoon

I went up last Saturday (20th) and the trail is 99% snow free, just a few sections of walking over snow, nothing steep. The lake in the crater is still covered in snow, as is most of the crater itself, but the ridge is all snow free. One of the campsites/windbreaks is clear of snow on the ridge.

I went up 2 weeks ago in low top waterproofs (la sportiva hikers with sheet metal screws in the soles instead of crampons) and it was pretty good. At the top near Pikers Peak it was a bit slippy and I should've busted out the axe to make up for the slippage. But I was up there at 6am and it was still a bit icy and the steps weren't well formed. If you went up later I would guess the boot pack will be better, especially on a weekend. That said, the glissade sucked because my shoes did nothing to slow me down, where as boots with a good heel would stop be easily. Bring cheap rain pants or a diaper for the glissade, don't use just your new pants for the sliding. have fun

You can use a 3 season this time of year, I used a bivy sack last year at LC and it was OK. That said, it's a mountain and any weather can be present. I've been using the winds aloft charts to check upcoming weather: This is one for Yakima: http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/nammeteograms/images_off/000156.cloud.gif this is for portland: http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/nammeteograms/images/726980.cloud.gif winds aloft info: http://www.pmru.org/safetyed/windsaloft.html so it looks like it'll be close to freezing at LC end of this week. I think 2 days is fun as you get the experience of being up there at night. We used plastic sleds last year and it sped up the decent from LC down to the trailhead. http://www.amazon.com/Paricon-611-Flying-Carpet-Sled/dp/B001Q8SLE2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1311109940&sr=8-6

Thanks pauls.

If you see melt water from the glaciers near Picnic Counter, could you let me know? I'm curious if there is any melt for filtering instead of brewing. thanks

How close to the trailhead could you get in your car before the snow?

Black Diamond did some testing: http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/journal/climb/qclab/qc-lab-to-screamer-or-not-to-screamer

Last year we slid down around 10am and it was soft enough to not be too fast. But it will depend on the temperature as well. It looks like a high freezing level this weekend. Enjoy the sliding, it's like a hydrotube.

we went up this morning and the snow was excellent in the old chute. There were signs of small slough avys in the west crater rim route and then on the way down today there was a climber caught in a small slough a little to left of old chute.

This is true, but it's nice to hear reports of obvious things like sugar snow or whatnot.

If anyone goes up this weekend, please report the snow conditions. I was planning to go up next week after a few days of hot weather. Hoping that the snow can settle some and grant some access without fear of avy.

After seeing this bigass avy with a crown of over 6 feet, I was wanting to know how to determine it is safe again. I would imagine most avy pits don't go down to the layer we saw this avalanche sheer at. Is it a quasi-guessing game at how many melt/freeze cycles it takes to consolidate the snow all the way down?