We woke the climbing team at 11:40 PM and a little over an hour later, the rope team began leaving Camp Muir for the summit. There were just enough breezes to keep from overheating during the hour-long climb across the Cowlitz Glacier, up through Cathedral Gap and onto Ingraham Flats. We expected a busy day on the route since many teams were camped at Muir for the night, but "traffic" was well spread out and not really a problem. Getting onto Disappointment Cleaver was fast and easy and all of the rocks seemed well-frozen into place. Taking a break at the top of the Cleaver around four in the morning, we could begin to see the first signs of dawn. It was cold enough at 12,300 ft that many climbers added a jacket for the next 1000 ft up through the crevasses of the Ingraham Glacier. Sunrise caught us at the final rest, around 13,500 ft and it was great to feel a slight warming as we crested the crater rim around 6:45 AM. Conditions were perfect for strolling over to the true summit and catching a look at Puget Sound, Tacoma, Seattle, the Olympic Range, Baker, Shuksan, Glacier Peak, The Stuart Range, Dragontail, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Jefferson, and St. Helens. After a bite to eat and a bunch of pictures and handshakes, we rallied the team for a smooth and safe descent. As expected, the intense heat of late-July caught up with us, but not until we were strolling back into Camp Muir around 11:30 AM. We made it down to Paradise by around 3:15 PM and into Ashford for cold beverages and celebrations by 5 PM. Route conditions are excellent as things are still quite direct with good snow cover and well-briged crevasses... there isn't too much walking on rock at the moment and most folks are thankful for that.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment