Summer at Rainier

Mt. Rainier 2011

To address the complaints that I didn't blog about Rainier, I simply used a bit of restraint in applying my caustic and cynical sense humor to my job as a public servant in a very public forum.  But no longer.

To summarize, after three years of applying I got hired to be a climbing ranger on Mt. Rainier.  I loved the work.  I liked being a park ranger, I liked staffing the high camp, I liked working in the office and I adore climbing the mountain.

That said, working for the federal government took some getting used to - the total freedom and lack of bullshit (or at least different bullshit) that I enjoyed as a grad student and working for Round River notably lacked.  After I spent most of the summer stepping on people's toes I think I learned a lot of the rules.  The biggest bummer for me was that I disliked the culture in the climbing program: I felt like everyone was obsessed with acting like a badass motherfucker all the time. Humility was detrimental to my standing.  I eventually just started playing G.N.A.R. at work, since that is what it seemed like everyone else was doing.

That said, Hey! I climbed the shit out of that mountain (I'm so much better than you).  I climbed twice via the Emmons-Winthrop, twice via the Kautz Glacier, and seven times via the Disappointment Cleaver for a total of 11 summits.  I would have liked to climb more non-standard routes, but that was the way the cookie crumbled.

What follows is a smattering of my better photos from the season, in approximately chronological order (some are out of order, but it doesn't really affect the story).  I've selected only the interesting or good quality photos - another upside of waiting until the season is over to post anything: the fact that I only got one presentable photo per week is less obvious when all of them are together.

Enjoy:

One of the black bear cubs that hung around White River.

Mt Rainier and Little Tahoma from Fryingpan Creek.

Sun cups in Fryingpan Creek.

On the Lower Emmons on the way up to Camp Schurman.

Camp Schurman after being opened for the season.

Lower Emmons on the way up to Schurman.

Susie on the Emmons Route.

Susie in the summit crater.  

Me and Snoozers on the summit.  It was real, real cold.

Susie on the descent.

Beta photo of the Schurman Route from the top of the Prow.
You can see the obvious bootpack leading into the corridor
and onto the upper mountain.

Susie on the hike down the Glacier Basin Trail.

This is from a 4th of July weekend Kautz Glacier patrol.  This
was taken at our camp on the upper Turtle Snowfield at
about 10,800'.

Peter and his friend Nick above the Kautz Headwall on a
beautiful morning.

Me and Drew on the summit after climbing the Disappointment
Cleaver on another cold, cold day.  We were pretty proud of
this summit, though - we snuck it in in the afternoon in a (very)
short break between storms.  I think we were the only ones to
summit out of Camp Muir this day.

Cooper approaching another Kautz Glacier patrol.  This time
we approached via the Comet Falls Trail, which adds another
couple thousand feet of elevation gain, but also a lot of pretty.

Coop at the same campsite as the previous Kautz patrol.
Another glorious evening.

Penitentes in the Kautz Headwall.  Made for some pretty
easy climbing.

My first time ever waking up early to climb - this was a 3 am
departure on a very busy Sunday morning.  By this point in the
season I was finally starting to get into pretty good shape -
Peter and I were able to pass all of these climbers in about
10 minutes by going straight through the section where they
were zig-zagging.

The masses.

Purty though, ain't it?

The same climb.

Little Tahoma is the black mountain in front.  Looks small, eh?

Climbers on top of the Disappointment Cleaver itself, with
Mt. Adams in the background.

Peter poses down.

Obligatory photo looking into a crack.  I waited until the very
end of the season to take this.

On the summit at 4 am.  This was my first twofer - a former
climbing ranger named Ryan and I climbed at 10am and then
again at midnight (without sleeping) after a steak dinner and
a few glasses of wine.  Technically it was the next day, but
that only matters for hazard pay.  It was brutally cold, and we
were exhausted.  The lights in the background are Seattle. 

Liberty Cap and Seattle at 4am.  I was almost certainly
shivering, so holding the camera still was not in the cards.

On the descent.

Sunrise over Ingraham Flats and Cathedral Rocks.

Little Tahoma and Ingraham Flats.

This is Drew, on my first one day push from Paradise.  I hiked
up to staff Muir, then climbed in the afternoon.

Glenn, Drew and me in the summit crater.  Too bad about
the focus.

Drew at the crater rim.

Descending in the evening.

That's all she wrote!