A GALAXY OF STARS glistens above me as I climb toward the summit of Mount Rainier. Luckily, previous climbers have left a clear path to the top. My partner Dan and I follow their tracks to the top of Disappointment Cleaver, a rock band that separates the Ingraham and Emmons glaciers. Below us a procession of orange lights, like some fantastic Chinese New Year parade, winds its way across the Cowlitz Glacier. The Rainier Mountaineering guide service is on the trail. Seeing the distance between us and them, I’m glad we got up at 1 a.m. for our summit attempt. The route is not yet crowded.
At 14,410 feet Rainier is the tallest glaciated peak in the Lower 48. Its high altitude alone makes it a challenging climb, but add unpredictable weather, occasional rock fall, and a complex system of glaciers, and you need climbing experience or a guide service to get to the top. (Rainier Mountaineering (rmiguides.com) and International Mountain Guides (mountainguides.com) specialize in Rainier summits.) Hardy hikers, however, can trek to Camp Muir, at 10,188 feet, the jumpoff point for most climbs. The steep, nine-mile round-trip hike over glacial rock and the Muir snowfield requires an ice ax and crampons, and has a 4,788-foot elevation gain, but provides an up-close view without the time and money of a guided climb. As a kid growing up in Seattle, I had long wanted to summit Mt Rainier. After climbing other peaks like Mount Baker, I felt ready to attempt it.
By the light of an early-morning moon, we enter the rarefied atmosphere near the top. The air is cool and still as we wind our way through a maze of seracs and ice falls, which glisten in the moonlight like creations in confectioner’s sugar. Only the sound of our breathing and the crunch of crampons disturb the silence.
The summit snowfield is nearly deserted. We unrope and sit down to rest and enjoy the view. The region spreads out before us like a vast relief map, from Canada to central Oregon, from the Pacific Ocean to the mountains of Idaho. From any other point in the region, the mountain dominates the horizon. Now that we’re on the summit, the mountain seems to have disappeared. The peak I’d dreamed of climbing as a boy has suddenly lost its remoteness. —NICK O’CONNELL
Read More About The Volcanoes
There are as many ways to experience Mount Rainier as there are seasons in a year.
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Cowlitz County Tourism
360-577-3137
Lewis County Convention & Visitor Bureau
800-525-3323
Skamania County Chamber of Commerce
800-989-9178