So a few weekends ago, two friends of mine (Pete & Stephen) along with 2 friends of Pete's (Kelsey and Joe) made an attempt at the Kautz route up Mt. Rainier. I had a great time and despite getting sick and a failed summit bid due to high winds and slow progress, I would absolutely do it again.
The trip started out kind of on a bad note when we finally hit the trail at 9pm rather than our goal of 5pm. We eventually got a little lost on the snow covered trail and instead of following a relatively easy series of switchbacks up to a ridgeline, we went straight up 40+ degree slippery rock/mud for about 300 feet -- did I mention that the 3 guys from DC had already been up for 20+ hrs at this point? Well, we eventually made it to camp, had our dinner and went to sleep about 2am. (Thursday: Van Trump park at about 5400 ft.)
We got moving in the morning, had food, broke down camp and got moving around noon. Weather was kinda crappy as it had drizzled overnight and we were clearly inside a cloud. Visibility was terrible, but at least it wasn't raining/snowing. We continued up the mountain, though route finding was challenging. We roped up when we saw a crevasse and at one point were a little surprised by a 100' rock outcropping that suddenly appeared about 100 feet ahead of us. (It was HUGE! But the visibility was so terrible we almost walked right into it!) We continued our trek, kicking in lots of steps into the mountain, putting on crampons and finally making it to camp at the lower Turtle snowfield at about 8:30pm. It was getting dark again while we set up camp, but all was well. (Friday: Turtle snowfield, 9300 ft.)
Saturday morning we woke up to see the georgeous view we had around us. The Wilson glacier along with the Kautz ice walls made the place awesome. However, during the night, I had noticed that Pete & Stephen both had sweatshirts and hats on while sleeping and I was in a t-shirt, sweating my butt off, shaking. (Can we say fever?) In the morning, we made the call that no matter how much better I felt, it probably wasn't a good plan for me to be making a summit attempt. Pete & Stephen decided to make their attempt at 9pm that night, so we just putzed around camp, taking naps, reading a bit, and gathering water. Overall a very relaxing day.
As the day went on though, the early morning sunny skies above the cloud line disappeared as the clouds rose to our level and produced flurries and high winds throughout much of the day. By about 6pm the snow had stopped but the wind was still pretty strong. At 9pm, the wind had diminished a bit, and Pete & Stephen decided to make their run for the top. They didn't move as fast as they had hoped though, and on their way up, bumped into a crew that was spending the night near by. This crew had left camp at 5am, made it up to 13,000 ft where they sat for 6 hours waiting for the wind to break. It never did so they turned around and went back to camp. Pete & Stephen continued their attempt, but after reaching about 11,700 ft, (Camp Hazard area) they weren't making their time goals, were getting quite tired and decided to come back to camp. They arrived back at camp at about 3am. (Saturday night, lower Turtle Snowfield.)
Sunday morning the weather was about the same. Decent views of Mt. Baker from our location, but definite clouds beneath us. We packed up and moved out of camp around 10am. descending was definitely much faster than on the way up and we were able to get some glissading in, though the snow was very slushy and sticky so it was kinda slow going. On the way down, we found the thinning in the woods were we got a little lost on the way up and confirmed that the trail was definitely much easier than our route, though it would have been nearly impossible to find at night. Even during the day it would have been challenging. We arrived back at the cars around 4pm, (we took it easy taking quite a few photos along the way), packed up the truck and headed home. (Sunday night: Portland Holiday Inn, 400 ft)
Monday morning = plane ride so back home we go. Lots of fun had by all, I met two new friends through Pete and had a good time catching up with good friends. I also seem to have found another expensive sport that I enjoy. Though if I continue to do this, don't be surprised if I start hauling a splitboard snowboard with me.
