http://picasaweb.google.com/remierice/20090523RainierWithCihanAndAaron#
http://picasaweb.google.com/remierice/20090523RainierCihansPics#
We did a glacier skills training day the week before and pics from that are at
http://picasaweb.google.com/remierice/20090516GlacierTravelTraining#
We got up to Muir in 5.5 hrs. Left Paradise at about 10:30 AM and made it to camp at 4. We chilled on the heli pad for a while in the sun.
The shelter had plenty of room. There were lots of guided climbers, but they set up their own tent sites. Here's a nice shot of the camp from above:
A guy had fallen into a crevasse the previous day. His team (including his guide) arrested his fall and he was able to climb out on his own power using his axe and crampons. He was petrified though, and headed back down. I talked to him on his way down past us. He said he'd need some therapy, then he'd come back to the mountain for more (I think he's a big pansy for turning around .. was he that shocked that he had to use his equipment? Why did he think he was roping up?? to look cool?).
We got up the next day at 1 AM and departed at 2. Beautiful morning climbing. Venus and Jupiter were up and bright. Here's a pic at sunrise:
Made the summit at 9 AM (7 hrs climb).
Hung out there for 1.5 hrs. G and Aaron felt like dogshit. I felt decent if not chipper. They felt better once we descended. Descent only took 3 hrs. Hung out at camp for about 4 hrs (until 5 pm) and then headed down to car where we arrived at 9 pm. I admit that I did feel like hell once I got back down to Camp Muir and was happy to get going to lower altitudes that evening instead of hanging out for the night.
You'll notice in my pics that I tried some night photography. For example, here's a shot of St. Helens with Portland lighting up the night sky behind it.
I actually hauled my full-sized tripod up to Muir. In retrospect, it was perhaps a mistake. It is a long way up there... But it was fun to have it and I learned that I had a little more to learn about night photography. For example, I had the ISO set way too low.
We met a badass guy who's been climbing Rainier and other NW volcanoes for 17 years. He said he did the Kautz as his first route on rainier with his dad back in 1995. Said route was vastly different then. No significant ice climbing. All snow. Hard to imagine, but i guess it's true. Anyway, this guy was soloing the mountain on skis. Has done solos on skis numerous times. He showed me where the climbing register is stowed under a rock ("register rock") near the summit and I signed in this time.
I bathed myself in sunscreen and avoided sunburn altogether this time. We brought far more food than we needed. But we were planning on 3 days + emergency food for 4 days. I ate mostly my usual fare of ... clif bars. However, i did down a fair amount of freeze dried food, snickers bars, and dried fruit. Oh and I did have some power bar goo packets which are good quick energy. We didn't have to boil water on summit day. Just carried about 1.5 quarts. Ate a little snow to tide us over until we reached Muir again.
I kept my heart rate at or below 120 primarily. I wouldn't want to push it over 130. I was happy that on the final ascent, I was only running 110, and my pulse was calm on top.
Posts
6 comments:
Interesting description of the trip. I checked out Picasa for all the photos. Lots of beautiful ones. I'd never want to do this climb, but it's fun to see how it looks.
eric, i bet u aren't surprised that i'm goint to hit on water a bit: water use is no doubt the most commonly ignored consideration in climbing while u see heavy discussion of snacks.
but w/o water nothing else matters.
why is 1.5 liters water inadequate for a 4k climb of that difficulty?
even at rest 1 liter is about right for 8 hrs during day.
and marked amount of insensible respiratory water loss breathing that hard.
i estimate u were at least 2 liters down by summit, not bad yet but by then some blood being shunted away from gut which reduces ability to absorb carbs and water.
cardiovascular system supports volume at the expense of all else so will shut down the gut to maintain blood volume.
on ordinary climb to summit no harm.
but if anything goes amiss and u need the extra calories it will take you several hours to get your blood volume back up and to be able to absorb those hi carb snacks.
so i would bite the bullet and take enough water for at least 1/2 liter / hour and use the still most sphoisticated monitoring system of cv function of all........ hourly urine output to calibrate hourly fluid consumption.
every quality ICU in the world uses this as their # 1 most reliable parameter to estimate cv volume.
granted, u need to haul more weight, take more time to consume the water, and stop whiz hourly but if push comes to shove u will be at max function to deal w an emergency and feel better to boot.
dude who fell into cravase should have thought, "cool! all my pro worked and i ain't even broke a nail. now let's cowboy up and hit the trail to the summit."
interesting post and enjoyed the read.
p.s. iso would have been fine w more exposure time if u were on tripod.
steve
note the shooting star n the milky way shot, upper left
steve
Under 120 seems like a pretty low heart rate for a hike like that, that is cool. Funny that dude was so shocked he had to use his equipment. I like the sunrise pic, beautiful.
glad to hear that guy was okay. I know he was all roped up but wouldn't you have been freaked out if death was staring in your face??? But I guess just climbing up Mt. Rainier is risking your life so if you are going to climb it be prepared to die. You know how I feel about extreme mountaineering. Plain stupidness, but don't tell Seth I told you.
Darleen,
Your life is on the line even more blatantly every time you drive down a two-lane road with another car coming the other way. Your steering could fail or you could have a twitch in your arm that drove you into the oncoming car in which case you would die. You just have faith that those things won't happen. Likewise, I have faith that my equipment and planning will keep me from falling to my death in a crevasse. Being suspended above a crevasse is only more shocking because you mostly don't even have to use your safety equipment.
Extreme mountaineering is not for me. I wouldn't say it's stupid any more than I would say that devoting one's life to art is stupid. People should do what makes them happy. Anyway, what I like is simple, easy mountaineering. And mostly just hiking.
Steve,
As I mentioned in an email to you, the amount that I drank was plenty to keep me whizzing large amounts hourly. I don't know why I needed such a small amount of water, but I hypothesize (based on a high altitude medicine physiology book I read) that your body reduces its blood volume (by expelling water) at high altitude. That way, your hemoglobin is more concentrated.
Post a Comment