8.5 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain •
With a forecast of 102° in the city, we decided to get up early and get as high as possible. My good friend suggested meeting at Timberline Lodge at 4:00 am, and just seeing where we ended up. Why not? Sounded fun!
Though we had headlamps, there was really never a need for them. The nearly full moon kept us on track as we meandered up the Magic Mile between 6000' and 7000', in the general direction of historic Silcox Hut. Nautical twilight started painting the sky magical colors around this time, as we pushed on through towards the mid-point of the Palmer chairlift, before stopping to enjoy a little snack and the full-on sunrise.
We climbed a bit higher, before my friend had to turn back (no problems, just responsibilities in town), and I continued on up. Wasn't sure where exactly I might end up, but trended in the direction of Illumination Rock. As I reached an equivalent elevation, the only obstacle left was crossing the upper flanks of the Zigzag Glacier. My spikes were still holding firm, but I was concerned the snowy surface of the glacier would quickly soften as temps were rising quickly.
Decided to head uphill instead, to see how close to Crater Rock I might get. Around 9200', crossed paths with a couple climbers coming back down. They'd summited, but reported the snow "was total crap!" up there. I was feeling the same, by now, about crossing almost anything. Slush city!
Ended up right at the base of Crater Rock, and enjoyed first lunch there, at 10,000 feet. Beyond, neither choice looked good. Could have stayed on the crumbly rocks, sliding backwards with each step, or attempted crossing the Coalman Glacier which by now was getting fairly slushy. So, no real option of getting to Devil's Kitchen today!
Coming down, it was surprising to see both lots of junk (mostly old metal cable) and plenty of bivouac spots as well. Followed rock down nearly to the top of Palmer, but then had to cross lots of terribly slushy snowfields as I descended east of the skiers. Decided to enjoy second lunch beside some ski jumps, just relaxing and enjoying the show. Sat there for nearly an hour, I guess.
Then, I faced the "miserable task" of wading through throngs of tourists from Silcox Hut on down to Timberline. Oh boy, even though it was now in the 80s, there were lots of folks trying to cool off up here with me! Got back to the lodge about 1:00pm, which seems so early to be ending a hike, and thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the shade of their back porch on a beautiful adirondack chair for the next hour or so.
Awesome day on the mountain!
