Emmons Glacier Route - 4th of July Trip

When climbing Rainier, you plan for most expected and unexpected circumstances. This rainier climb was going to be special. Our team of REI employees from the Federal Way store were going to have a climb we could all remember and talk about for years. In the end, the story most told was why I did not make it.

The first day had gone well. We hiked up the White River Trail quickly, ascended the Inner Glacier and made it to Camp Sherman all in good time. We were relaxing, enjoying our camp in the snow at 9,500 feet at Camp Sherman. I had brought a large American Flag and it is presence in camp got many complements from passing climbers. That evening, I got some kind of bug and had to go to the restroom. Now it was the 4th of July weekend so the camp was full. So was the line at the bathroom up there. My condition was bad enough that as soon as I got out of the restroom, I would just get back in line because by the time I got to the front of the line, it was time to go again. This went on for awhile. All my climbing partners just sat in camp watching from a distance getting a big laugh out of my misery. In the end, I had flushed out everything in my body, including necessary water and food reserves so I was ready to dehydrate.

Because of the warm temperatures, we decided to get a very early start, somewhere around 1 a.m. if I remember correct. I did not have adequate time to sleep or dehydrate or recharge with food. Basically, I was tired and hit a brick wall around 12,000 feet. Since I have done a lot of climbing, I knew exactly how capable I was of pushing myself. Today I would not be able to reach the summit.

As the lead climber, I suddenly unclipped, turned downhill gathering the rope as I descended and handed to the next person in line saying, "Your in the lead now, I am going down". The 2,000 foot decent alone was not bad. There was only one crevasse I was worried about. I waited around 20 minutes for a climbing team coming up and asked if I could hold their rope as I crossed. They put a boot-axe belay on each side and I was across in seconds. Back in camp, I tried to recharge while I waited.

These pictures are from that trip. I do not believe I took any pictures above Camp Sherman. Storm clouds obscured the mountain above 12,000 feet on that summit day possibly contributing to my lacking-desire to summit. I believe the rest of the team made it to the crater rim before heading down. I guess health issues are not that uncommon while climbing mountains, they just do not happen to me very often.