jakedouglas

Thanks! Great pics btw.

Any crampons/axe required at this time or is all snow avoidable?

Glad I'm not the only one! I also fell down a runnel in the same location on 7/13, narrowly missing a rocky moat. I was surprised to find myself uninjured given the length of the fall and going head over heels a few times. In retrospect we should have dropped lower for this section, and I should have pulled out my ice axe once we found ourselves in this dumb position, though I'm not sure it would have been able to hold the slip or arrest the fall given the nature of the snow. I'm pretty paranoid about this kind of thing and have only experienced something similar either 0 or perhaps 1 times in 10+ years of mountain travel. Cheap wake-up call for me to stay diligent.

These boots are brand new in the box. I ordered them from a German website and they don't fit me, can't return them.

Very cool perspective from this location. There are a couple TAY TRs of the enormous gully coming off of Lemah. Looks like a wild place. http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=40779.0 http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=28621.0

I've been skeptical for a while of the people that make an overt habit of driving 500+ miles every single weekend, flying all over the world many times per year, etc., so they can participate in their favorite activities in the best conditions in the best locations all the time. I appreciate trying to get the most out of life, but at some point it's nearly gluttonous and it doesn't seem like this practice will hold up to scrutiny a whole lot longer. For me, I try to stick near home and appreciate the things in my back yard more often. Turns out they're usually beyond satisfactory, provided I stay off of Instagram and don't compare my experience to whatever the coolest thing happening in the world is at the moment. On the topic of vehicles, I've been mulling about how to drive a more efficient one without compromising access too much. It occurred to me that a large number of outdoor recreationists could get rid of their trucks and SUVs altogether if only some number of popular forest roads were better maintained. This is currently a sticking point for me.

Thanks!

Cool, sounds good. I saw a photo from last weekend making Cascade Pass direct from the TH look a little thin. Think it'll still go on snow almost a week later now?

Thanks for the TR. We're thinking of heading up there this week. Sounds like you would probably recommend sticking to Cascade Pass both in and out at this point, at least for skiers?

Yup, had this in the back of my head since then. Very cool to see it done.

FWA?

When you say that it does not involve significant glacier travel, would you consider it a reasonable solo? Would it be overly tedious to downclimb the route rather than carrying over? I would like to summit Rainier alone someday, but all of the glacier travel is a little beyond my risk tolerance except maybe a well-worn DC path in the proper condition.

Go very early or later when the sun goes down. Going up to Muir in the mid day heat SUCKS. It will drain your energy and require carrying tons of water. 11:00am would be my last choice of time to start. 3 hours with an overnight pack is on the fitter end of the range, and is probably not necessary to exert yourself that much on day 1. Guide services regularly take 6-7 hours to Muir and still somehow still get those people to the top of the mountain. IMO it should take you 4-5 max or your fitness/pack weight are probably in question.

Bryant Buttress was still in pretty fat today. Thanks to whoever installed the bolted anchor at the top. Makes it much faster for a group to get in and out and not hold up the show messing with trees. Kiddie Cliff and Chockstone also looked fat. There was definitely ice on Source Lake Line but I've never been up close so hard to tell how in it was. Alpental Falls stuff looked like it was still there, too.

I took a weekend WFA course a number of years ago and didn't feel like I took as much away from it as I wanted. I think a lot of this is just the short amount of time involved and I have always wanted to take WFR since, simply for the longer period of immersion in the material.