Attempt 1 for Camp Muir
Topographical Map generated with my GPS and MapSource
Before I begin my hiking story, I want to give a bit of background information. After Granite Mountain the week before, Dan, Nuria, and I decided to do something really easy this week. Monday at work Jeff Roberts told us he was going to Camp Muir and asked us to join him and his family. For those of you who do not know, Camp Muir is the point were people climbing Mount Rainier stop for the night. The hike starts at 5400 feet and ends at about 10,100 feet in about 4.5 miles. This is NOT an easy hike. I have wanted to go to Camp Muir this summer and it was a good opportunity to give it a go.
Unfortunately, Nuria could not make it so Dan and I along with Jeff, his wife, his daughter, and her friend went on the hike. Since I live much closer than everyone else to Mount Rainier, Dan cam in with Jeff's family and I met them at paradise. All week long, everyone had been telling me that the altitude difference would make a big difference in stamina. I let this concern psych me out a bit.
At the start of the hike, it was very noticeable. It was pretty steep, but I was really out of breath from the first couple steps. By about 0.7 miles, it began to get less steep and I began to get used to the altitude. At about two miles we hit the Muir snowfield.
Now, I am not from around here. I am from parts of the country where summer means no snow. I knew we got on a glacier, but psychologically, it is something entirely different to walk on a snowfield this time of year. At the start of the snowfield, there is a fairly steep incline. I climbed this four times. I did not repeat the climb three times out of the joy of climbing; I did it because I fell down it three times. I did take solace in the fact that some others around me were having trouble with it, but no other person in my party had any.
Four times being a charm, I continued on the snowfield. I had a severe balance problem on the snow so I pulled out my hiking polls and continued. At about the three-mile mark I began to get a headache from the altitude. I decided to stop for several minutes and catch my breath. The stop was long enough to remind me of my climb down Long's Peak and I decided that three miles was enough of this hike.
I sat on a rock in the snowfield for two hours waiting for my party to come back from the top. It was quite cold, and when two hours was up, I went back down the mountain to Paradise. The rest of my party came down within 30 minutes.
I learned a couple things from the experience though. First, I learned that I do not like being the only one not to complete something. Next Sunday, I am going back to complete this hike. Like Granite Mountain, I will make it if I break my leg and have to claw my way to the top. Second, I learned that a six-mile hike does not tire me out at all and makes me feel great.
Here are some pictures from the hike:
