Trip Stats
Date: Jun 9th 2005
Location: Mount Rainier National Park, WA
Start Elevation: 4,200ft
Top Elevation: 7,800ft
Total Elevation Gain: 3,600ft
Trip Report
My brother was in town for my graduation and I had high hopes of getting him on the snow. Looking at the weather forecast put a damper on things, but we decided to go for a tour up Inter Glacier, since it was in a basin and would be easy to navigate in with poor visibility. Trevor convinced us to come out for some beers the night before and we didn’t arrive to the trail head until well after 10:30am.
The hike up was alright, although I was feeling a bit tired from lack of sleep and the ample amounts of beer from the night before. Once at Glacier Basin campground, we put on our skinds and began the slog through the fog. Part of the way up the first steep section, a the drizzle started and the fog intensified. Around 7,80oft we took a short rest and then proceeded skinning. After a couple of minutes I called it quits – I was tired and the visibility was somehow getting worse. We took of our skins and began the ascent, trying to link turns in incredibly heavy snow without being able to ski. Needless to say, the skiing was miserable and it wasn’t until the flats at the bottom that we could see again.All in all, not a very good day, although my brother was a good sport about it. When the weather is poor for months at a time, you have to take what you can get…
