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Emmons Glacier from Camp Curtis

We attempted to summit Mount Rainier via the Emmons/Winthrop glacer route. Unfortunately, I was hit with AMS at just under 12,000 feet, forcing us to descend. This was a major blow, but I felt better after getting back to camp.

Aside from not summiting, the trip up to Camp Schurman via the Inter glacier was fantastic. The climb is almost exactly 5000 feet from the White River campground, over the course of about 6 miles.

I think the yeti talk might have started while doing rope/crevasse rescue work at Volunteer Park the previous Sunday. The theory—this is unproven, mind you—goes something like this: modern glacial geologic theory is completely wrong. Instead, glacier movement is dictated by large groups of highly organized yetis. The apparent sound of crevasses is really nothing more than the incredibly irregular and un-rythmic sound of the yetis' drums. These drums are to keep the yetis moving the glaciers down the mountain. If they can move a glacier faster than it can rebuild itself, the glacier recedes. Otherwise it grows in mass, and their work becomes more difficult. Keep in mind that this theory had nothing to do with altitude.

>Arriving at Camp Schurman

Once at Camp Schurman we melted snow and went to bed around 6:30. We set Run for the Hills to wake us at 11:45 that same night.

We started hiking around 1:00 am, and made remarkable time. The crevasses and unstable snowbridges were navigatable in the dark, but on the return trip, many of the snowbridges looked much more dicey in the daylight. We managed to get to 11,700 feet by about 4 in the morning, and this is when the altitude sickness hit. We sat around freezing for about 45 minutes, but my condition didn't improve, so we started the long cold walk down to camp.

Crevasse and Curtis Headwall