[TR] Rainier - DC w/ Emmons var. 8/11/2006

[ClimbingPanther]

Trip: Rainier - DC w/ Emmons var.

 

Date: 8/11/2006

 

Trip Report:

Here's another long overdue TR.

 

I, my two sisters, and one of their friends from work set out to git the big one Friday night, driving into a beautiful sunset with Rainier on the horizon

 

We slept in the car or on the ground outside, registered in the morning, and started up around 8:00 am. Weather was wonderful with a few insignificant clouds and no wind.

 

Nothing worth remembering on the Muir snowfield, though we did run across a snow snaffle.

 

At Muir:

 

At Muir, we found it a little funny that they have a handicap bathroom. That's right, a handicap bathroom at 10,000 feet.

 

 

If that wasn't funny enough, the note on the door was the real killer:

 

I don't think it was in service, but definitely good for laughs.

Started out for Cathedral Gap across the Cowlitz, and as we neared the other side, one sister started getting really tired and didn't think she'd make it to the top of the gap, so we rested a while and she drank a half liter of my homemade energy drink (discussed elsewhere on this site), which gave her what she needed to get over the gap.

It was about this time when we had a distant encounter with the elusive Rock Dachschund.

 

Above Muir:

 

Ingraham glacier had some impressive holes in it. Those are people and tents up to the left, for some scale.

 

We set up camp on pre-made platforms, ate & boiled water. Of course, around 9:00 just as we were going to bed, another group came in and began setting up camp 2 feet away, and proceeded to boil water, which they continued until we left at 1:30am. We left the one tired sister behind to rest and enjoy the morning views at camp. Not a breath of wind as we started up, just the *crunch crunch crunch* of crampons, tinkle of metal, and our own heavy breaths under a pristine night sky. Made our way up the cleaver with no problems. A wayward group was scolded harshly by one of the pro guides for getting above everyone on the trail where they could kick rocks down on us.

Above the cleaver, the route turned right to traverse over to the Emmons, since the normal DC route was too broken to go up.

We played leap frog along the trail until the sun rose and we rested for 10 minutes or so. What an amazing place to be when it lights up the mountain through a thick haze of red smoke!

 

Was WWI fought here? The trenches are unbelievable!

 

Aaaaaahhh.

 

We continued up to the top with as much glee as can be had when you're working hard. Was I yodeling or yawning here? I don't know.

 

We carved out nice dual-cheek-shaped thrones to sit on while we ate.

 

We had wonderful naps in the thin but very still atmosphere, under an ever-increasing UV lamp. The summit crater seems to have the most impressive trench of the whole trail to the top. I think you could bivy in it and be completely protected.

 

We checked out some of the cave system and found some cool sights, along with an unfortunate blue-bag dumping station.

 

At least that stuff was out of sight and bagged, which is more than I can say for this:

 

Get a life, people! You brought it up, bring it down!

We lingered quite a while on the summit to let the masses get finished with rush-hour on the cleaver.

Emmons from above:

 

Coming down, we got a rad shot of the gnarly crux:

 

Here's our camp from above.

 

And some more big cracks.

 

I was surprised given its reputation, but there were no close calls with rocks on the cleaver. My sister who stayed at camp said she heard the noises begin just after sunrise and they didn't stop all morning, but we had a good experience thankfully.

 

Nothing much of note for the rest of the way down, just an annoying endless descent filled with envy for the skiers. It was a first for me and my summitting sister, though the friend from work had been up before once or twice.

 

The worst part was when we got back to Paradise and called for reservations at the National Park Inn, and they gave us some joke about being booked for 2 hours! I've been in there twice before and had to wait 30-45 min. while watching tons of open tables remain open, so I know they were full of it. Olive Garden wasn't bad though.

 

Gear Notes:

nothing unusual

 

Approach Notes:

follow the yellow brick road

Edited December 22, 2006 by ClimbingPanther

[Couloir]

Nice to see a new, albeit from the summer, TR. Nice work Panther. Awesome pics, especially of that hole in the Ingraham. I wonder how fast that happened. Very cool shot. Thanks!

[TREETOAD]

Nice TR Great pics thanks for sharing

[OlegV]

Nice TR! Probably one of the last TRs for a while now.