Rainier Update 07/09/2007
Conditions on Mount Rainier are rapidly changing from spring to summer. Most of the snow is melting at Paradise (5,400’) and the meadows are beginning to emerge. The established trail up to Pebble Creek (7,200’) is turning from snow to dirt, and it will not be long before the permanent snowline is at Pebble Creek.
The Disappointment Cleaver route is in great shape for this time of year. A thick winter snow pack is covering most of the rock and scree on the Cleaver from 11,000’ to 12,300’. The snow not only reduces the amount of rock fall on the cleaver, but also makes ascending and descending much easier. Several hundred feet above the top of the cleaver the route crosses a small break up where the Emmons glacier pulls away from the rock. This is the start of a long (mostly level) traverse to the Emmons shoulder where the route then ascends in a series of switchbacks up to around 13,000’. From here the trail heads back to the south in an ascending long traverse crossing several crevasses at the top of the Ingraham glacier, and on up to Columbia Crest. Temperatures are forecasted to break records in the Seattle area this week pushing up into the mid 90’s. The heat will be felt on Rainier as freezing levels climb up to near 15,000’
Conditions on Mount Rainier are rapidly changing from spring to summer. Most of the snow is melting at Paradise (5,400’) and the meadows are beginning to emerge. The established trail up to Pebble Creek (7,200’) is turning from snow to dirt, and it will not be long before the permanent snowline is at Pebble Creek.
The Disappointment Cleaver route is in great shape for this time of year. A thick winter snow pack is covering most of the rock and scree on the Cleaver from 11,000’ to 12,300’. The snow not only reduces the amount of rock fall on the cleaver, but also makes ascending and descending much easier. Several hundred feet above the top of the cleaver the route crosses a small break up where the Emmons glacier pulls away from the rock. This is the start of a long (mostly level) traverse to the Emmons shoulder where the route then ascends in a series of switchbacks up to around 13,000’. From here the trail heads back to the south in an ascending long traverse crossing several crevasses at the top of the Ingraham glacier, and on up to Columbia Crest. Temperatures are forecasted to break records in the Seattle area this week pushing up into the mid 90’s. The heat will be felt on Rainier as freezing levels climb up to near 15,000’
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