permitting for travel above Rainier "high camps"

[mountaineer38]

My understanding is that a "team" of two or more climbers can go above the high camps with no "resume" of skills whatsoever (that's scary), but a solo climber must have the "solo permit" which from the application appears to be difficult to obtain. Is this rigidly enforced? Would you actually be fined or arrested if your skills motivated you to go even just a little beyond Muir, etc. (say Ingraham Flats) for a little more solitude, etc.?

[Crux]

Shot on sight. Then arrested. Then required to climb with two or more climbers with no "resume" of skills whatsoever.

[dlofgren]

If you travel solo across the Cowlitz to Ingraham Flats you really should be roped up. Especially if your skills are limited.

If you want solitude based out of Muir, climb the ridgeline to the Beehive/start of the Ledges. You'll be high and alone without the risk of punching through.

[Duchess]

Technically speaking--the park requires that anyone on a glacier or above 10,000' on Mt. Rainier have a permit. This shouldn't be a see-what-I-can-get-away-with issue, it should be a respect issue. Mt. Rainier has an outstanding reputation for its search and rescue program and its climbing ranger program. Its management of waste on the upper mountain is pretty decent, too. So, if they say the only way to fund these things is by paying $30, so be it. Dlofgren is right, crevasses commonly pop open right along the climbers route traversing the Cowlitz Glacier.