On July 31st, I had the opportunity to hike to Camp Muir, on Mt. Rainier. Camp Muir is the base camp (on the south side) that you camp at the night before you summit Mt. Rainier. It is only an additional 2.5 miles to the summit of Mt. Rainier from Camp Muir, but with an insane elevation gain. The hike to Camp Muir from the parking lot at Paradise is 4.5 miles, with a 4,000 foot elevation gain.
I went with my Mom, brothers Stephen, Kyle and Keith, and my brother in law Quinn. We left the house at 6:00 am to head to Paradise, 2 hours away. After getting all booted up, we hit the trail at 8:30 am.
The first mile was semi easy...paved for the first little bit, not lacking incline, but with the first of the breathtaking views.
It wasn't too long into the hike that Kyle and Keith came across the first chute, which they didn't hesitate to slide down. (We call it glacading but we aren't sure how to spell that word, or if it's even a real word, so I'm going to say it lots this post I'm sure, but it just means to slide down the snow on your bum!)
As we hiked up around the next bend we came to the Y that you can turn left and go to Camp Muir, or turn right to go to Panorama Point. The view was amazing and we couldn't resist going around the bend towards Panorama point to catch the view. It was amazing seeing Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens all in the same glimpse.
After stopping for a couple minutes to enjoy the view and take pictures, we headed towards Camp Muir. The last 3 miles of the 4.5 mile hike is on snow. There is no trail or path. It is simply a huge slope of snow ahead of you that you climb. Once we got over the first slope, there was a definite difference in the oxygen levels. You could tell that we were getting higher in altitude!
The glaciers were so steep, and the air so thin, that we got to a point where we were taking 30 steps, then stopping for 25 seconds...taking 30 steps, stopping for 25 seconds. We did this for the last 2 hours. Kyle and Quinn were hiking with me (Mom, Stephen and Keith were about 20 minutes ahead of us) and Kyle, for those 2 hours, cut the trail for me. He would kick into the snow so that I essentially had steps all the way up that mountain. It was awesome! I was definitely lucky to be hiking behind my doublette.
After we got past the first false summit, we finally crested over the last hill and we caught a glimpse of our destination. In normal circumstances (meaning at decent elevation and a flat surface), it would have taken about 3 minutes to walk there. However, at 10,000 feet, and walking up a 45 degree slope, it took us an hour. This hike, was by far the hardest hike I've ever done. Physically, yes, but more than that, mentally. It is mentally exhausting to look up and see nothing but a white slope, and knowing that there is another white slope just as steep and long ahead of you. There wasn't ever a moment that I wanted to give up, but there were definitely several moments where I considered sitting down in the boot pack and taking a breather. My only motivation was knowing that my 51 year old mother was about 20 minutes ahead of me. (To my defense, I had to stop and take off my shoes to tape my heel since I was getting a hot spot.)
After finally getting to Camp Muir, I didn't stop to sit. I wanted to walk around and look around. We got pictures, and took in the view. Then...I decided to sit. I consumed some calories and drank the rest of my water. All of us carried at least 2 liters of water up the mountain. Everyone was out of water, except Stephen, by the time we started our descent.
After sitting for 20 minutes or so (and watching my brothers climb another super tall peak) we decided to descend. We started walking/hiking/running down the glacier and it was really hard and exhausting! I knew there had to be a better way, so after getting permission from Mom to possibly ruin her pants I borrowed, I decided to attempt glacading. It was a huge success! What took us 4 hours to hike up took 2 hours to slide down. Some of the slides we did were a minute long. Some were steep, and some weren't quite as steep, but with the help of my hiking poles, it was still a ton easier to slide down than hike down! One of the rides was like riding on a toboggan. It was really curvy with steep sides. You could tell it had been there for awhile, and had been used by lots of people! This particular ride was so fun, that Stephen, Keith and I decided that it was worth it to hike back up the steep slope to go back down it. Once we were at the top again, we noticed that a little ways to the left was an even steeper hill. The snow was a lot harder and smoother, so it was going to be a faster ride. There wasn't a previous track but it was perfect! So, Stephen went first, then Keith, then me. I can't even explain how fun that one was! Totally worth it :)
All in all, it was a fantastic hike. It was such an amazing experience to be able to do that with my mom and brothers. It made for some awesome memories, and although it took me a few weeks to be able to say this, I definitely hope I can do that hike again someday.
