Mt. Rainier, Emmons Glacier 7/20/19

This "memorial climb" was dedicated to a very dear friend of ours.  We were given dire warnings about icy conditions and cold/windy weather...

 Our first good view of the mountain.

 Sunrise from high on the Emmons Glacier.

 Chris overcoming one of the challenges.  Our base camp is in the lower left corner of the picture.

 Other climbers working their way to the top.

 Brian by a wall of ice in Liberty Saddle.  A recent storm left amazing rime ice deposits all over the upper mountain.

Brian, Joe, Ron, Chris and Doug on top of Rainier.  

Mt. Adams 7/13/19

We day hiked Mt. Adams this year, instead of camping half way up. It felt really good to carry a light pack up and down the mountain!

 Checking out the view from Lunch Counter

 Heading up the South Face

 Almost to the false summit

 The last 600'

Everyone made it to the summit! 

The glissade back down is the best part. We like to call this one Widowmaker!

Ingalls Lake 6/1/19

The weather was perfect for our hike up to one of the most beautiful places in the Northwest.

 Ron, Brian, James (and Doug) nearing the lake.

 Eating some lunch and enjoying the view.

 A hole in the ice.

Mt. Stuart from Ingalls Pass.

Mt. Rainier, Emmons Glacier (attempt) 8/12/18

Our summer climb on the Emmons Glacier ended up being more like a fall climb.  It was icy, heavily crevassed and we were treated to 2 hours of snow and freezing rain at high camp. Our tents got covered in ice. 

We started for the top at 1:30 am and wasted a lot of time looking for a way through a giant maze of crevasses in the dark. We were way behind a safe schedule and still had a lot of route finding between us and the top, so we decided to turn around at about 11,000'. 

That's the way it goes. Spending a couple of days with friends in an amazing part of creation is never a total loss.

Jim, Dan, Chris, Joe, Ron and Doug setting out on our adventure.

 A lenticular dome over the mountain as we approached Camp Schurman.

An alpine sunrise

Not many people get the chance to watch the sunrise from a point above the clouds and surrounded by huge crevasses!

  Working our way back down the icy glacier through the maze of crevasses.

 Doug, Ron, Dan, Joe and Chris almost back down to high camp.

A steep snowfield and ice cave near the Inter Glacier.

Mt. Adams 7/14/18

The weather for our climb was great, except for the tent shaking wind on Friday night.

 Dennis, Dan, Ron and Chris going up the slope that we call Widowmaker.

 Heading up the South Face on Saturday morning.

 On the False Summit, looking down at Lunch Counter, with Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

 Doug, Dan, Chris and Ron on the summit.

Mt. Rainier and the Goat Rocks.

Chair Peak 6/23/18

We made another attempt on Chair Peak and got close to the summit, but did not get to stand on top of it.  I think that it is time to throw away the route description and go on a clear day!  We did get to see a black bear on the hike in!  No picture though, it was running too fast.

 Ron, Chris and a neat cairn.

 Crossing Denny Creek.

 Chair Peak is somewhere up there in the clouds.

 The heather was blooming.

Doug with crystal clear Upper Melakwa Lake in the background.

Farewell To A Friend 9/9/17

A bunch of us went for a hike on Cleman Mountain to the spot where our friend, Pete, passed away a few weeks ago. The group consisted of family, friends and co-workers from 6 different states. It was good to share memories and find the answers to some lingering questions.

Rest in peace, Pete.  See you on the other side.

Lake Stuart 8/26/17

We took a break from climbing mountains and went for a family hike up to Lake Stuart.

 Jim, Linda, Doug, David, Susan, Tina (and Ron) crossing Mountaineer Creek on a log bridge.

 Lake Stuart with Mt. Stuart in the background.

Relaxing and having some lunch on a large boulder.

Ron taking in the view.

8/12/17