It’s 6:15PM. Everyone is restless, but attempting to sleep. Tired, but energetic from the day’s climb to Camp Muir, I settle into my sleeping bag and try to dream of electric sheep. Except, I can’t. Because, you can’t really dream when you’re not sleeping. Sure, daydreaming, but it’s just not the same. Someone’s climbing boots are really just too odorous, they should have left them outside, or thrown them off the mountain. And then there’s that guy who sounds like a train, a train broken down and in need of service, maybe like a BART train in San Francisco. It was recommended that I bring ear plugs and perhaps an iPod, obviously I didn’t. Someone gets up, dons their boots, and clomps out the door. The very very noisy door which is insulated with cut up thermarest camping pads. It’s still light out, when is it going to get dark? Ah, finally it’s dark. Someone can’t help from laughing in response to the snoring moose in the bunk above. I fight every urge in my body to look at my watch. I just want to sleep. I can’t. I have to pee, but it’s cold outside. I don’t want to leave my warm sleeping bag. The hours pass. I drink some water. More people get up and walk around. Curse that loud door.
I think there was a period when I may have fell into something resembling a semi-comatose state. I think that period was 10 minutes before a guide opened the creaky door and shined a bright headlamp in my face. Where am I? Am I dead? Rustle, rustle, groan, the climbing zombies quickly stir and then the adrenaline starts kicking in. The guide says, “Everyone get up and get ready. We’re leaving in under an hour.” It’s 11:23PM.
I fire up my headlamp, throw my water bottles and food into my pack, and put on my heavy but trusty warm boots. I fill my 32 oz mug with starbucks instant coffee and don my down jacket and gaiters. Gaiters are “man-leggings” that cover your lower legs and protect your legs and expensive climbing pants from the sharp points of your crampons. I scarf down a clif bar, a couple of poptarts, and I’m good to go. I exit the hut and am hit simultaneously by the biting cold and the utter beauty of the clear night sky. Windstopper hat, check. Helmet, check. Headlamp, check, coffee candies in pocket, yup. My pack feels wonderfully feather light, absent my sleeping bag, trekking poles, and some food. I put on my crampons and I’m ready to go. Crampons are spikes that attach to your boots and make you feel like you can walk upside down. I detach my ice axe from my pack and we start roping up into our four-man rope team.
We set off into the dark and across the Cowlitz Glacier. The snow trail seems narrow and we trudge one foot at a time. It’s difficult to see much beyond our feet and on numerous occasions I have the feeling that a slight misstep would send me tumbling into the abyss. I had recalled that a sign I had read at Camp Muir warned of hidden crevasses. An hour passed and we continued ascending, moving into the pumiced volcanic rock switchbacks of the Cathedral Gap. The rock here was loose and wiley, liable to conk you on the head when you’re looking the other way.
After some time (more than an hour), we stop for a break and put on our down jackets to weather the cold night air. I take a few swigs of water and eat a clif “mojo” bar. I think it gave me some mojo, good mojo, mojo rising. We start up the Ingraham Glacier and then begin ascending Disappointment Cleaver, the physical crux of the climb. I’m feeling pretty good and enjoying the pace and the rhythm. Several minutes of crunch, crunch, silence, punctuated by sporadic drifting sentences of pseudo conversation. Zig, zag, switch ice axe to the uphill hand, zig, zag, “clank!” on the rock, zig, zag, the sound of metal crampons on hard snow and ice, and the light rumble of unstable rock to pass the time. Watch out! Crevasse, step over it! I generally did not look down the crevasses, just straight ahead. We continue to climb one to two hours at a time through the night.
The moon is a crescent sliver in the black sky above us. It’s not only a crescent, but it beams a bright firey orange color, reflecting the color of the sun. The recent forest fires have filled the air with particulates which cause the light to refract and reflect in fantastic ways. We continue to be whittle away the hours and finally the burnt orange sun begins to rise. The sunrise is phenomenal, one of the most dramatic and magnificent I’ve ever seen. We pause for a few photos and continue the ascent through the thinning air.
We reach the crater rim at 7:05AM. Mount Rainier is a dormant volcano and is topped by a crater. We reach the lower part of the rim, drop our packs, and unrope. There are steaming vents along the rim of the crater which don’t look too friendly, though apparently stranded climbers have used them for warmth. Ice axes in hand, we start the last few minutes to the high point on the other side of the crater. We descend the rim and walk across the crater through a field of enormous jagged sun cups. If I didn’t know better, I’d think those things could impale you. It looks like another world, like something from “Avatar”. We reach the summit (elevation 14,410 feet) at around 7:30AM. The sun is out, but the wind is also out in force. We snap a few photos, sign the summit register and head back down into the crater. We stop briefly to refuel and congratulate each other, then we rope up and start heading down the mountain.
Mountaineers know that heading up the mountain is only half the battle. Getting down safely is the other half. Heading down is a long chore which is hard on the knees, but at least we have daylight now. As the sun rises, the danger of rockfall increases. The snow begins to melt and the rocks which were once frozen to the ice can start to slide. We spend several hours weaving our way down the mountain while trying to avoid kicking rocks onto the teams below us. We stop for a break at 9:40AM at the top of Disappointment Cleaver. As we move on, we step over a few crevasses, some of which are quite deep. One crevasse requires us to cross a ladder. They’re definitely a bit scarier when you can see them in the sunlight. At one point, I jump over one and get a scolding from the guide, “Keep your feet on the ground next time!”. My rope-mate thought it looked cool at least, if not the safest thing to do. Duly noted.
We arrive back at Camp Muir at 11:44AM. The guide advises us to not go into our sleeping bags and to prevent anyone else from doing so. If we did, we might never leave. Within six minutes of our arrival at the high camp, it starts snowing on us and the winds turn blustery. There goes our good weather! We rest up a bit and pack up the rest of our gear for the final leg down the mountain. As we descend the mountain unroped, the weather devolves into white out conditions and a mix of snow, rain, and wind. We stop at intervals to make sure everyone stays together. We slide down the giant mogul-ish sun cups of the Muir Snowfield. It’s just not quite as fun when you’re not on skis though. My knees are hurting a bit, but the ibuprofen is moderately successful at masking the pain. At some points, we encounter snow chutes that previous climbers had graciously carved out for us using their behinds. I whip out my plastic garbage bag and happily slide down some of these chutes. Unfortunately, I’m too lazy to put on my waterproof pants, so I end up getting fairly drenched for the first time during the entire climb. Getting so wet makes the last bit of the decent fairly miserable for me. What was I thinking? I’m feeling somewhat spacey and disconnected. I just want to get down this giant mountain and put on some dry clothes.
We reach the visitor center at Paradise at 2:30PM and hop on the bus for the 45 minute ride back to Ashford. I take a brief nap on the bus and am ecstatic to change back into dry clothes when we arrive back at the Whittaker Bunkhouse. A few minutes later we’re eating burgers and pizza, drinking beers, and talking of our exploits. The guides present us with certificates and we all sit around for a while as people slowly say their goodbyes.
One of my rope-mates read this quote from his meditation book at Camp Muir, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20
Nothing is impossible indeed.
Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Donate online here:
http://www.summitforsomeone.org/main.php?page=4&climber=7034
—
The Summit for Someone benefit climb series raises money for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides outdoor wilderness mentoring programs for at-risk teens. The mission of Big City Mountaineers is “enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through transformative outdoor experiences.”
With your help and my summit attempt, the BCM program will reach at-risk teens nationwide (over 2,600 program days last year!). I’m seeking to raise $4000 for the organization. Thank you for considering donating on my behalf. Get out there, do good, and have fun!
—
Brennan Pang (brennan) is co-founder and COO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
I was awakened this morning to the faint sounds of “Dreamweaver” by Gary Wright playing somewhere in the distance. Coupled with someone walking around on the old floorboards above, it made for a strange alarm clock. For the next two hours I drifted in and out of sleep, then noticed that the enormous clock read 7:37AM. It’s go time!
I jump out of bed, throw on my climbing clothes, grab my pack, stop by the cafe for a tall coffee, and return my room key. I drop my extra duffel bag at the RMI shed for safekeeping and then jump on the bus for the trip to Paradise, the point of departure for our climb of Mount Rainier.
After hitting the bathroom, ensuring we all have water, and getting a quick pep talk, we start off at 9:30AM from the visitor center area of Paradise (elevation 5,400 feet). We climb steadily on the asphalt walkway, then further as the trail becomes a mixture of dirt, volcanic rock, glacial melt, and snow. Wildflowers are in abundance at this time of year, the scarlet paintbrush, pasqueflowers, broadleaf lupines, and a myriad of others cast an astounding array of blue, violet, yellow, and red across the green and brown landscape. As we climb higher, we begin to leave the crowds behind. Our plan is to climb an hour at a time, then stop for short 10 to 15 minute breaks to rehydrate and refuel.
At 11:40AM we stop to take a lunch break. We are now above the trees and the alpine line at an elevation of approximately 7500 feet. I gulp down water, eat a powerbar, some ritz, and we set off once again. We slowly but steadily ascend the Muir Snowfield, named for John Muir, the noted conservationist who climbed Rainier in 1888.
The air continues to thin and breathing becomes tough. As the hours drone on, I start into my rhythm, taking a brief momentary rest at each step. Each pause of a straightened leg adds up over time and helps the body to rest even as you continue to climb. Step 1, breathe, step 2, breathe, step 3, pressure breath. The pressure breath is a forceful exhale of carbon dioxide which helps to pressurize your lungs to absorb more oxygen. Staring at my feet, looking for the subtle changes in the surface of the snow to determine where to best place my next step, then occasionally looking around and admiring the beauty of the creation around me. For me, climbing is elemental, as I begin to climb, a billion thoughts fly through my mind, but as time wears on, rhythm and the next step becomes the focus. I settle into a meditative kind of state, but one that is exhilarating.
At 2:45PM we reach Muir Camp at 10,000 feet. Everyone feels strong and we spend time hanging out, taking photos, and organizing gear for the climb ahead. The weather has been wonderful up until this point, sunny and a slight breeze. Muir Camp is home to a ranger station, and a few huts, one of which is RMI’s. The vibe here is one of excitement, and with the historic stone and log huts flying Tibetan prayer flags against the picturesque mountain it feels like a different world.
At 4:00PM the team gets together for an upper mountain briefing. After the briefing we roam around camp and get ready to settle in for the night, or shall I say the day? The RMI hut is about the size of a rectangular shipping container, but is made out of 2x4s and plywood. It’s chock full of sleeping bunks and can probably hold 24 people or so. I grabbed a lower bunk and put down my sleeping bag, then packed up and organized what was necessary for the impending summit attempt. The guides had hot water available at 5PM. My dinner was freeze dried Cajun chicken and beans cooked with the hot water, then I had some stroganoff-like noodles also cooked in the same manner. 
I finished it off with an entire package of beef jerky, a red vine, and a few cookies. No time for cooking up here today. Roamed around camp and took some photos. The sky is a bit hazy from the forest fires but the haze mostly looks to be below us. Mount Adams can be seen peaking through the top of the haze. It’s breaktakingly majestic up here. Off to catch some sleep now at 6:15pm. It’s tough with a noisy snorer, a bunch of smelly climbers, and an excruciatingly loud door.
Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Donate online here:
http://www.summitforsomeone.org/main.php?page=4&climber=7034
—
The Summit for Someone benefit climb series raises money for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides outdoor wilderness mentoring programs for at-risk teens. The mission of Big City Mountaineers is “enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through transformative outdoor experiences.”
With your help and my summit attempt, the BCM program will reach at-risk teens nationwide (over 2,600 program days last year!). I’m seeking to raise $4000 for the organization. Thank you for considering donating on my behalf. Get out there, do good, and have fun!
—
Brennan Pang (brennan) is co-founder and COO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Had a tough time sleeping last night, perhaps it’s a bit of the pre-trip adrenaline jitters. I got up around 6AM and packed up the gear and food I needed for the day. I ate some strawberry poptarts, drank some water, then stopped by the cafe to grab a cup of coffee and finish up the blogpost from yesterday. The team met up at 8AM and headed out on the bus towards Paradise, a 45 minute drive up the road.
Paradise is home to a national park visitor center (with a small exhibit and informational area upstairs great for families), a lodge, and the start of many trailheads. After about an hour of hiking through an astonishing array of vibrant wildflowers, and passing a few cheeky marmots, we reached our training area, a large snowfield with a 40 degree slope.
After taking a brief break, we started our training. We learned (or received refreshers) on glacier travel, the use of our ice axes, climbing as a rope team, and other basic safety necessities of mountaineering. We practiced climbing as well as falling (to practice stopping ourselves). The sun was out in full force today, making for a warm but otherwise enjoyable day. It felt good to review the basics and to get to know each other as a team. Everyone did a stellar job, which bodes well for our upcoming ascent of Mount Rainier.
My trail lunch today consisted of Ritz crackers, oatmeal cookies, trail mix, and water. Satisfying enough for me, though I have a few more substantial items for the actual climb. We finished at around 3:30PM and headed back to Ashford on the bus. Smelly, but mostly no worse for the wear! We returned to find the power out in the entire town. Looking forward to a giant dinner, then an early bedtime.
Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Donate online here:
http://www.summitforsomeone.org/main.php?page=4&climber=7034
—
The Summit for Someone benefit climb series raises money for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides outdoor wilderness mentoring programs for at-risk teens. The mission of Big City Mountaineers is “enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through transformative outdoor experiences.”
With your help and my summit attempt, the BCM program will reach at-risk teens nationwide (over 2,600 program days last year!). I’m seeking to raise $4000 for the organization. Thank you for considering donating on my behalf. Get out there, do good, and have fun!
—
Brennan Pang (brennan) is co-founder and COO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
Arrived in Ashford, WA just before 3PM with extended family and my 7 year old son. We grabbed some ice cream at the bunkhouse cafe as I checked in. I headed over to the Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. office afterwards while the kids began climbing on one of the three climbing walls nearby. I embraced my son and said goodbyes before heading to the climb orientation. It looks like we’ve got a great team of 18 or so from across the US and Canada. We’ve even got one woman who flew in from Stockholm, Sweden. We’re split into two groups. The primary guide for my team is Seth Waterfall, a great name for a mountaineering guide!
After some intros to our teammates the guides started into a slideshow presentation where they talked about Rainier, some of it’s history, and the founding of RMI in 1969 by Lou Whittaker. They also covered the principles of the leave no trace ethos, then briefed us on the role of the guide, mountain safety, and finally the route itself. After the presentation we took a brief break and then broke into our respective teams and went through an hour or so of gear check. The gear check consisted of describing each piece of gear and clothing and checking that each person had what was necessary for the climb. It was a good time to make some adjustments. For instance, I had brought a few duplicate warm layers of clothing just in case not knowing the specific mountain conditions. The guides helped everyone whittle down to the essentials and pointed out gear items to add where necessary. I was all set, except for the avalanche transceiver which I later picked up from the rental area.
Ashford is a great little Northwest town with some good restaurants, a general store, and the Whittaker Mountaineering and hiking store. I’m staying at the historic and reasonably priced Whittaker Bunkhouse, originally built in 1908 to house single logging and mill workers during the booming timber industry.
No mobile phone coverage in the area, extremely spotty to say the least, but the bunkhouse has wifi. There are 3 climbing walls near the RMI office that you are free to climb on, so I spent a bit of time bouldering and walking around. The weather is a comfortable high 70s, but up on the mountain it promises to be cold. Mount Rainier boasts the highest concentration of glaciers up there in the lower 48 states. Good night for now, got to escape from those mosquitos.
Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Donate online here:
http://www.summitforsomeone.org/main.php?page=4&climber=7034
—
The Summit for Someone benefit climb series raises money for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides outdoor wilderness mentoring programs for at-risk teens. The mission of Big City Mountaineers is “enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through transformative outdoor experiences.”
With your help and my summit attempt, the BCM program will reach at-risk teens nationwide (over 2,600 program days last year!). I’m seeking to raise $4000 for the organization. Thank you for considering donating on my behalf. Get out there, do good, and have fun!
—
Brennan Pang (brennan) is co-founder and COO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
“Trekaroo exists to enable families to inspire
and equip each other to explore the world.”
It’s part of our mission statement. At Trekaroo, we love to travel with our kids, whether it’s the weekend jaunt to the museum, a few hours at a baseball game, or a more extended trip. We also know that travel is a luxury, especially in the midst of a tough economy. Not everyone gets to travel, especially those in under-resourced urban areas.
We believe in giving back. We’re passionate about making a positive impact on communities, both abroad (Check out Kiva!) and in our own backyards (Big City Mountaineers). As individuals and as a small company, we give part of our time and resources to help others.
During Thanksgiving last year we gave away $500 and had our user community vote on whom to give it to. An organization called “Big City Mountaineers” came out on top. If you’ve read my bio, you may have gathered that I love the outdoors and enjoy climbing mountains. Well, I’m super excited to be able to meld that enthusiasm with a worthy cause! Over the last couple of years, I’ve participated in a number of Summit for Someone benefit climbs. The Summit for Someone benefit climb series raises money for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which provides outdoor wilderness mentoring programs for at-risk teens. The mission of Big City Mountaineers is “enhancing the lives of under-resourced urban teens through transformative outdoor experiences.”
In a few weeks, from August 4th-7th, I’ll be climbing Mount Rainier in Washington.
With your help and my summit attempt, the BCM program will reach at-risk teens nationwide (over 2,600 program days last year!). I’m seeking to raise $4000 for the organization. Thank you for considering donating on my behalf. Get out there, do good, and have fun!
Donate online here:
http://www.summitforsomeone.org/main.php?page=4&climber=7034
Many thanks and happy trails!
Brennan
Intro | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
Travel positively
Trekaroo is passionate about making a positive impact on communities. We believe that in addition to being fun, travel also bridges divides. Our vision is to enable families to see the world in order to instill a greater compassion for those in need.
“Given a chance, a child will bring the confusion of the world to the woods, wash it in the creek, turn it over to see what lives on the unseen side of that confusion.”
Big City Mountaineers
http://www.bigcitymountaineers.org/about
About Trekaroo
http://www.trekaroo.com/about
Related articles on giving back:
Addicted to collecting passport stamps
Kid conversations on the road: What’s poverty mom?
—
Brennan Pang (brennan) is co-founder and COO of Trekaroo – a reviews site dedicated to exploring and traveling with kids.
Travel with kids to: CA | CO | DC | FL | HI | IL | MA | NC | NY | PA | TN | TX | VA | WA
