Colchuck Peak 4-29-07

Colchuck Peak, in the Stuart Range, was to be our first real climb of 2007. We camped near the trailhead the night before and then got a 4:00am start on the climb. The road to the trailhead was closed due to a mudslide that needed to be cleaned up. We pushed and rode bikes for 4 miles up the dry gravel road.




Mark crossing the bridge over Mountaineer Creek.



Doug, Mike and Dave enjoying the view.

Dragontail Peak is on the left, Colchuck Peak is on the right and the Colchuck Glacier is in-between. Our route would start directly below the summit as seen from this angle. Colchuck Lake was still frozen. We were able to save a lot of time by going straight across the lake.

Our route was the North Buttress Couloir (NBC). It is the snowy strip going up the left side of this photo. This is the NE side of the peak.

Heading up the lower part of the NBC. The snow was in great shape on this side of the peak. We could easily kick in steps and they were solid.

Dave, the moraine and the end of the lake.

We made it up to the notch and crossed over to the NW side of Colchuck. The snow on this side was loose dry powder.

Mark with Colchuck Lake in background.

Mark, Doug and Dave on top of Colchuck Peak with Mt. Stuart and Sherpa Peak behind us.

The Colchuck Glacier consisted of hard icy snow. We were numb by the time we finished glissading down to the lake!

Dave takes a lot of flower pictures. Here is just one. We hopped back on the bikes, made good time coasting down to the pickup, ate some real food and headed for home.

Mt. Rainier, DC 9-24-06

We wanted to see what it was like to climb Rainier in September. So we chose a date, made plans and drove to Paradise. There was a menacing cloud cap over the mountain threatening to change our plans! We made it up to Camp Muir later that day in good weather.

We were very pleased when we got up at midnight and started our summit bid under clear skies!

There is nothing like watching the sunrise from 13,000 feet!

The storm that almost stopped us left beautiful ice formations all over the upper mountain.

These palm sized formations were all over the crater area.

This 5 foot tall icicle was found inside the steam caves that are under the snow and ice in the crater.

A blue light illuminates the upper portion of the caves.

The view looking down one of the caves. Farther down the cave, it is completely black.

The view looking up from farther down in the cave. These caves go down hundreds of feet and all the way across the crater.

Dave, Doug, Mark and Jim on the top. We were blessed with awesome weather on our summit day!

More ice figurines on the way down.

The long traverse back to

Disappointment Cleaver.

The mountain is a jumbled mass of crevasses and seracs in the fall.

This part of Disappointment Cleaver is made up of crumbly red "rock."

We made it home later that day. As always, we were a little dehydrated, famished, sunburned and tired. But it was well worth it!

Mt. Adams 7-15-06

Our 2006 Adams climb featured some little kids with strong legs as well as a dozen adventurous big people. We eat dinner and spend the first night at the trailhead. In the morning, we will have a big breakfast then hit the trail.



The bear grass was in full bloom at the trailhead.


On Friday, we hike up to our high camp at Lunch Counter. The wind was blowing so strong on the top of the mountain that climbers were turning around short of the summit. The shape of the cloud cap was constantly changing, disappearing and reappearing. We were hoping for better weather on Saturday.

It was windy at Lunch Counter, so we huddled in one of the shelters to cook and eat our dinner. It had a little volcanic ash added to it this year.

We woke up to find better weather. It was still windy, but at least it was clear on the summit.

A little climber follows her dad up the south face.

More climbers stair-stepping on the steep part of the south face.

Well above the clouds, we all take a break at the False Summit.

The last 600' to the summit.

Three generations of this climbing family made it to the top!

It was a little chilly on the 12,276' summit. Two 9-year-olds and a 10-year-old made it to the top!

The funnest part of this climb is the mile-long glissade back down to Lunch Counter! It was another memorable climb for Foursquare Mountaineering.

Mt. Rainier, Kautz Glacier 7-2-06

After climbing the easiest routes on Rainier, we wanted to climb something a little more challenging. So we decided to try the Kautz Glacier.

We crossed the Nisqually Glacier, then we went up a gully called "The Fan." It is full of rocks that break loose each day as it warms up.




We headed up the Wilson Glacier and found a great camp site just below the Turtle Snowfield. The rock wall would serve as a windbreak and there was running water close at hand. Unlike Camp Muir, we did not have 99 people camping right beside us. Mt. Adams in the background.





Jonathan in the kitchen area.





The main challenge of the Kautz Glacier route is a short section of 45 degree ice.










The shadow of Rainier just after sunrise. If you want to get the most out a sunrise, you need to be above 11,000' in elevation!

Jonathan finishing the fun part of the route.

Dave just above the icy section.

One of several large crevasses on the upper mountain.

Dave and Jonathan on the summit. The upper mountain was really windy and covered by a cloud cap.

Doug (holding onto his hood) and Jonathan. We took pictures and headed right back down.

Jonathan found a hidden crevasse on the way down!

Here are 3 tired and hungry climbers just a couple of hours from the car and some real food. Jonathan was able to summit an intermediate route for his first attempt on Rainier! It was fun to climb something new and challenging in this awesome part of creation.

Mt. Rainier, Emmons Glacier 7-24-05

The Emmons Glacier on the northeast side of Mt. Rainier.

James basking in the early morning alpenglow. Camp Schurman and Steamboat Prow are far below.

The extreme weather high on Rainier creates beautiful features like the wind sculptured snow in this photo.

Climbers crossing the snow and ice filled crater.

Doug, James, Dave and Robert on top.

Mt. Adams 6-18-05

Our group at the Cold Springs trailhead. We had our usual spaghetti feed for dinner on Thursday. Rain, then freezing rain, fell on us that night.




We had to hike up through fresh snow to get to our high camp at Lunch Counter. It got cold and windy and then snowed some more on the second night. Everyone was pretty worn out after two hard nights. The weather was still unsettled on Saturday morning.






Out of the 29 climbers that started this climb, only 7 toughed it out and made it to the top!