In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Mt. Rainier
05 July 2000 – 07 July 2000
Mount Rainier via Ingram Direct
Participants: Tom J., Tom W., Sandy H., Willy G., Sandra F., Jenni N.
Our original route was to be the Disappointment Cleaver but this season RMI (Rainer Mountain Guides) has not been using that route.
Day 1: Hiked from the Paradise Trailhead to Camp Muir, about 6 ½ hours; it then took about 3 hours to set-up, eat, etc. We rested from 5:30 PM to about midnight.
Day 2: There were low lying clouds when we got up and it had snowed about 1” and was still snowing slightly but was not windy. We left camp at 2 AM. I have a clear memory of seeing a line of headlamps headed up the mountain. We summited about 9:30 or so, then back at camp at about 1 PM traveling over very soft snow.
Day 3: Hike out in about 3 or so hours.
Thoughts in retrospect:
We had 2 rope teams that did not stay together. Having just one rope team would have been better
Another thought would have been to spend an extra day at Camp Muir before the summit attempt, maybe doing crevasse training or just resting.
I would also recommending bringing a water filter to filter melted water, thus cutting down on the amount of fuel we brought.
Training for Rainier
May – July 2000
In preparation for the July 2000 outing to Mt. Rainier, our group did a number of training climbs. These are the notes from some of them
Date: 13 May 2000, Saturday
Place: Attempt on Northstar Peak, south of Breckenridge
See Page Northstar Peak
Date: 14 May 2000, Sunday
Place: Front Porch with Sandy H
Led the first 2 pitches; Sandy led the 3rd, which I did fine following
Date: 15 May 2000
Place: Mt Sanitas
Training hike with rack, rope, and 1 liter of water. 1 hour up, 50 minutes down
Date: 19 May 2000
Place: Brainard Cabin
Hiking Time: 1 ½ hours. Could have biked it
Date: 20 May 2000
Place: Audubon Mountain via Crooked Coulier
Hiking Time: 5 hours, Brainard Cabin to Summit
A wonderful hike!
Date: 21 May 2000
Place: Brainard Cabin to Trailhead.
Hiking Time: 55 minutes
Date: 24 May 2000
Place: Walker Ranch Loop
Running Time: 2 ¼ hours
Distance: About 8 miles
Actually time, 2 hrs, 25 minutes. Walked the last bit, due to it being dark. Stopped about 4 times contemplate the creek.
Date: 27 May 2000
Place: Gold Hill Bike Loop
Biking Time: 2 ¼ hours
Distance: ??
8:40 – 9:40: From Boulder to T-intersection of Four Mile Canyon Road
9:40 – 11:40: Start of Switzerland Trail
11:40 – 12:40: End of Switzerland Trail
12:40 – 1:10: Back to start in Boulder
Date: 28 May 2000
Place: Forest Lakes Ski
A great spring ski, into the bowls above Forest Lakes and below Radio Beacon Peak (which I did not climb). A great variety of skiing. Tom J. was on this trip. I do remember that cross Arapahoe Creek on the trail was pretty dicey. We climbed below the trail to cross. Gary Cage and I did this a few times in later years, but we would drive up the Rollins Pass Road to a place where the road makes a sharp turn to the right. From there, it’s about 2 miles cross county to Forest Lakes. Not difficult but you need route finding as well as map and compass skills.
Date: 30 May 2000
Place: Red Rocks Loop:
Time: 40 minutes, running
The trailhead for this starts across the creek from Eben Fine Park in Boulder. There is an alternative start up Mapleton Canyon, across from the Mt Sanitas trailhead. A very nice lunch time run.
Date: 31 May 2000
Place: Mt Sanitas Valley
Time: 45 minutes, running
A local favorite
Date: 01 June 2000
Place: Jasper via Gaitoraid
Time: About 8 hrs
From the 4th of July trailhead, we took the trail to Diamond Lake which was very snow covered and hard to follow, beginning at the bridge. Gaitoraid was in great shape, with only a very little cornice on the far right. Snow Lion looks to be in great shape, Snow Leopard had lots of cornices.
Date: 03 June 2000
Place: Boulder
Biking Time: About 1 ¼ hours
Date: 03 June 2000
Place: Breezy with Sandy H.
Led 2nd pitch. Scary but I did it!
Date: 04 June 2000
Place: Jasper Peak via Snow Lion
Yee-haa, a new route, one that was on the bucket list. I think this one was the full group: I do remember Sandra F. and Willy G. being along. Time was about 8 hrs and we came down Gaitoraid. We were at the trailhead at 6:30 AM and summitted at 11:30.
Looking across to Skywalker on Arapahoe Peak, it looked pretty thin.
Date: xx June 2000,
Place: South Boulder Peak
This was a long long day, starting at the Green Mountain Trail, up and over Green Boulder to Bear Peak then over to South Boulder Peak and down the Shadow Canyon Trail.
Date: 28 June 2000,
Place: Sawtooth Ridge between Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt
Time: About 6 hours
Mary Ann D. and Gary N.was on this one.
We started at Summit Lake, we went only to the far side of the ridge and back. The ridge itself was a pleasant but getting there was not! It took a route below Evans on this loose, ugly scree field. I was sure I was going to plummet to my death. Probably one of the outings that made me think twice about climbing 14ers. We came down the snow field between Spaudling and Evans which was a wonderful culmination of the trip.
Date: July 05 – July 7th 2000
Place: Mount Rainier