Dave7 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Trip: Mt. Rainier - DC Date: 9/20/2011 Trip Report: A buddy of mine have been planning a trip to Rainier since about July, after having to turn around in June I was excited to get back up the mountain. We had lined up a trip to WA for the last two weeks in September. After arriving in SEATAC on the 17th, we spent the day getting supplies and getting ready for a few days on the mountain. The weather looked OK, on the 18th we headed up. It was windy and rainy, there were a few guided groups coming down saying that the weather was horrendous up high. The weather forecast looked like it was going to clear up on the 19 and 20...we hoped. At around 8500 feet my buddy wasn't feeling so hot and the winds were pretty strong. We decided to set up our tent for the evening and try to wait out the storm and get some food and water in my buddy. The winds howled all night and neither of us got any sleep. Around 9 am on the 19 the winds weather was starting to clear so we decided to go up to muir. Bluebird skies...no winds..things were looking up. We spent the day on practicing glacier skills, crevasse rescue, and prepping for our summit attempt. We ate dinner and went to sleep around 600 to rest up. We awoke at 200am and set off in beautiful weather towards the top. After crossing cathedral gap we noticed only one other party on the DC...a quiet day on the route. We ended up catching up to this group on the Emmons shoulder, good to meet you guys! The DC was in decent shape, there were some fixed lines in place, no ladders, the crevasses could easily be stepped over or end run depending on what your comfortable with IMO. Reached the summit at 900am, great weather, blue skies, almost no wind...a great day on the mountain. Gear Notes: Standard glacier stuff Approach Notes: Skyline trail Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock-ice Posted September 27, 2011 Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks for your report. Was the 'trench' (aka boot path) still visible the whole length of the route? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave7 Posted September 28, 2011 Author Share Posted September 28, 2011 No it wasn't, the route was still pretty well wanded but the trail was kicked back in by the groups ahead of us, and a little bit by us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock-ice Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 Oh good. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tele turnin Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Here's a site with the most updated conditions from the NPS Rangers there at Rainier. http://mountrainierconditions.blogspot.com/2011/04/disappointment-cleaver-2011.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineEnthusiast Posted October 23, 2011 Share Posted October 23, 2011 Congrats Steve! Great pictures too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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