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
