After a beautiful day on Friday we were hoping Saturday would follow the same way for our planned trek up to Camp Muir. Woke up at 5am to the sound of rain on the roof...hoping it was really the wife taking a shower...nope. The rain was coming down pretty heavy. Soon after, I got a call from Wes Henrie (our newest recruit for this trek) asking if we were still planning on going. Showing our usual Bravado I replied , "We go no matter what the weather", but in my mind, questioning whether I should have said, “Never mind”.  Too often we have gone on these treks and never heard from our recruits ever again. But being young and athletic I also new Wes would champion this one...I hoped. 

It rained on the three-hour drive to Paradise (a trailhead on Mt. Rainier) and it was even worse when we arrived...cold, windy, and very wet. Stepping out of the van and feeling the wet chill I knew we were all thinking....”Why are we here!!!”  We then decided that since we were here we might as well try for Panaora Point (the halfway point) at least...I figured we would be soaked and cold enough by then to head back. Well, we were right that we would be wet but we kept toughing it out as we passed Pan Point and continued upwards. The driving rain caused us to become soaked and the water cascaded from our clothes into our waterproof boots...squishy feet of course. But as long as we kept moving we didn't get cold and with Will setting a perfect pace we made good progress. 

Our breaks were only for a couple of minutes to grab a quick bite of food and a few sips of water...no lingering in warm sunny weather that we usually have. As we reached the 9,000 foot level though, the weather was tapering off and we knew we would make our destination. It took us just a little over 4.5 hours to make it to Camp Muir but we did it....and the weather was even starting to break.

While at Muir we had sunny skies above us with the nasty weather below. Our expectation was that if we made it to Muir we would only spend a short time or huddle up in the dark, damp, and cold bunkhouse...it was actually decent enough to spend an hour sitting in the sun. It was a bit cool (near freezing) and breezy but not bad and we even shared a few beers. The mountain allowed us to enjoy what if offers. After a few

pictures we headed down and into the nasty weather again. Looking back I could see the clouds enveloping the mountain  - we were so fortunate to have a short window of good weather.  

By the time we arrived back Paradise (just over two hours) we were right back into the rain, wind, and chilly conditions. Two out of three cameras were not working and some of the pictures taken with Will's camera never came out so I can't send some of the great sites we saw despite conditions...but at least we have them in our minds and can share a few pics that we do have. On our way home we stopped at our usual pit stop for a good Mexican meal and beer. We got back home around 9pm and were all pleased that we made it and despite the wild weather we had a great time...we'll see if Wes joins us again...I think he might. 

Stats:

4650 ft gain in 4.5 hrs

elevation at Camp Muir 10,100 feet

return 2hour 3 minutes

Gary Richer

Erik Knowles

Will Mokszycki

Wes Henrie