Camp Muir

This weekend Gavin and I joined the Climb for Clean Air group and climbed to camp Muir.  Katie and Ryan, we nice enough to let us stay with them at the Paradise Inn. It was much more leisurely this way! We headed out to Mt. Rainier on Saturday afternoon, stopped to rent our boots then joined Katie and Ryan at Paradise. It was absolutely gorgeous! There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We enjoyed a picnic that Katie had packed, played some cribbage then headed to bed. The next morning we were up early enough to take our time getting our stuff together. Another gorgeous day! Gavin and I each had different experiences of our day so we will be each sharing our story. We’ll try not to make it too long. :)

Naisha’s story: The morning started out on a great note. I had all my gear together and ready to go without having to rush. Rushing gets me stressed out! They tell us that at the start of the hike you should be a bit chilly. I started out in just a tank top and was till warm! It was really sunny so I made sure the slather sunscreen everywhere! After a quick group huddle we were headed up the mountain. The group tends to start out at a fairly quick pace for me. I was doing my best to keep up but was having a hard time breathing. I got sick on Friday with a head cold and I think this was contributing to breathing issues I already seem to have. It was sooooo hot too! The sun was just blaring down! The first big break was at the bottom of Avalanche shoot (the steepest part of the mountain). It was amazing to see how steep it really was! Last time we went up it was a complete white out so I had no idea was I was getting into. We started up Avalanche shoot, they wanted us to work on our rest steps and pressure breathing again. I again couldn't keep up with the group. I just kept thinking how hard it was to breathe and how I was going to let everyone on my rope down when we attempt to summit. As I got more anxious the harder my breathing got. Before I knew it I was having a complete nervous breakdown as I was trying to make my way up Avalanche shoot. Finally I pulled over and just let myself cry…thank goodness I was toward the end of the group to start with! The leader of the group, Mike, came up to me and asked if everything was okay. I told him what was going on. He was nice enough to give me some encouragement and had me slow down. He said pressure breathing was really important and to do it as often as possible. Even the famous mountaineers like Ed Viesters have bad days and need to pressure breathe and slow down. Another guide, Stew, was nice enough to walk in front of me and regulate our pace. After calming down and refocusing, up we headed again. I caught back up with the group at the next rest stop. Mike came up to me and told me I did great and wished he could instill his confidence in me into my own mind. After another beautiful break and picture taking the group spilt into two. This is where Gavin and I’s stories split. I stayed in the “slow” group while Gavin and Richard continued on in the “fast” group. The pace was much more tolerable for me. My breathing was well under control. After a while we caught up to Bronka, a woman who joined our group for the day. She wasn’t feeling well so decided to join us. Bronka Sundstrom is the oldest woman to summit Mt. Rainier in 2002 at 77 years old. And she did it in only 19 hours!!!  That means not staying the night at Camp Muir. The rest of our way up the mountain was spent with her. She is an amazing woman and fun to talk to. We kept being told that our cut off time was 2:30 pm so that we wouldn’t be on the mountain too late. I kept thinking that we were going to make it to Muir, it was never in my mind that I wouldn’t. At 2:15 pm, Stew stopped our little group of 5 and said this is it, we rest here then turn around. According to him we were only 30 minutes away from Muir. I have never in my life experienced such disappointment. I could see it right there but wasn’t able to keep going. The view from our stopping point was wonderful but I wasn’t able to enjoy it because Gavin was at Camp Muir without me! After another crying session (hidden from the others) we refueled then headed back down. The biggest bummer was that Gavin had my PB&J with him so I had to eat just a cliff bar. My partner in crime, Heather, and I were both a little upset with not getting to go to Muir so we cruised down the mountain fast! Her quicker than me. The snow was awful to go down in. Like walking in mashed potatoes with a 35 pound pack. You would walk along and then next thing you know one of your legs in sunk knee deep in the snow. It was a long and depressing haul down till we got to the shoots! Over the last few months of climbers going up and down a slide was created in the snow on the steep parts. All you had to do was sit down and GO!! it was incredible! I felt like a kid again. The shoots twisted and turned and you cruised down, pack and all! That was probably the most fun I had all day! I think we got to go down four of them! But Avalanche shoot was by far the best.  We finished our day in just over 8 hours! At the bottom was I so sore and sun burnt! Then just had to wait for Gavin and Richard to join me.

Gavin’s Story
Did you know that you can sunburn your tongue? Turns out that if you’re panting like a dog on Rainier you’d better find sunscreen for your tongue, but I’ll come back to that. Perhaps one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever seen on the mountain was today, blue skies with few clouds in sight. We started shortly after 9am and were a little over an hour in the climb ascending the avalanche chute when Naisha had a small break down. Unfortunately that made it a hard day for her, and by the second stop she was struggling with the pace. I don’t think that it was a physical challenge, since she had made it past this particular elevation the last time, it seemed more metal. Since she was not the only one struggling the group split into two for our final push toward Muir. Here is where Naisha and I split up. I pushed on with the faster group trying to make sure that I made it to Muir. It seems this was a bad decision on two counts. One, pushing with the faster group was fairly intense. About forty five minutes from Muir I was panting hard, and yes I think I somehow managed to burn my tongue. Second, I would be constantly wondering were Naisha was at.

It was a struggle but I did make it Muir and it was a beautiful sight. I watched as my father struggled up the hill, but he too made it. I tried to help my him recoup from the last push because it hit him hard. While we both made it up there the  excitement was shortly lived. I began to wonder if group two would make it. I couldn’t see them and I knew that Naisha was down there. The clouds were beginning to roll in and shortly engulfed the the lower half of the mountain. We left Muir and began to descend through the cloud bank but just before entering the clouds a huge portion of the ice wall on the upper part of the mountain broke loose. We watched a large avalanche slide down the mountain…(release you from suspense)…miles away from us. As we descended the cloud bank I had to say a silent thank you to whomever in the park service that places the trail flags since visibility in the clouds was about 150 feet and they alone allowed us to descend safely. I think I set the pace for this decent. I was so eager to make sure that Naisha was alright I probably moved faster than my technical skills should have allowed. Short story, I moved pretty quick but I looked liked a flailing chicken going down the mountain. While I'm not sure how this makes sense…but we never caught the slower group. They had been turned around early and were glissading down the mountain, which turns out to be much quicker than trying to run down steep snowy slopes, as we were told to do. Although everything turns out well when I find a grumpy Naisha in the parking lot. Grumpy that she didn’t get to Muir, and apparently oblivious to the fact that she hasn’t seen me in several hours. This seemed like a dramatic role reversal than the normal. Oh well everyone was safe, that's all that matters!!