9 miles of hiking • 9500' elevation gain • 1 night
Five of us signed up with RMI to attempt this summit climb via the Disappontment Cleaver Route. The hike up to Muir was pea soup with limited visibility due to windy snowy conditions. Muir bunkhouse was full so we camped @ Muir. Very cold & windy. Left Muir @ 2AM under clear skies but cold & windy conditions. Crossed the Cowlitz Glacier & rested at Ingraham Flats. From there crossed the Ingraham Glacier & assended Disappointment Cleaver. Weather moved in @ this point & the climb up to High Camp @ 13,200 ' was quite difficult due to limited visibility caused by the high winds & blowing snow. Rested @ High Camp & from there climbed up to the crater rim @ 14,115'. Due to the continued poor weather conditions, we were unable to descend into the crater & up to Columbia Crest @ 14,410' to sign the summit registry. From there it was the long slog back down to Muir & then to Paradise. The RMI guides told us that this climb was approx. 50% more difficult then a climb made on a fair weather day. That took some of the sting out of not reaching the true summit.
Comments
Father Guido Sarducci
May 30, 2016
Yep, that was a total bummer.....3 days on the Mt. & we never saw it. I really felt sorry for the out of towners. Most had never seen Rainier in person & left town still never seeing it.
Jim
May 29, 2016
A moral victory for sure. I'd probably be more bummed to reach the summit only to be socked in by clouds with no views.