Recently I bought a pair of crampons and an ice axe, intended for crossing the snow field on Howell Mountain. But before I can safely cross that 350 foot snow field I need to be sure I know how to do it safely. So I decided to take a day hike up on Mt Rainier, find some snow and try them out. Little did I know that the view would be so spectacular, or the weather would be so perfect! This photo was taken at 8:17 AM from only about 7,000 feet elevation, on the path heading toward Camp Muir, the route most mountain climbers use.
At 9:50 AM I arrived at this perfect snow field. I can just barely see the top of Mt Rainier over the top of the snow while standing on the nearly level snow at the bottom of the steep slope.
Turning to the right, you can see how steep the slope is. I put on my crampons and started playing. I tried going straight up, then angled to one side, then the other side. I threw myself down onto the snow so I could practice sliding and then stopping the skid with the ice axe. Everything I tried was easily done so now I'm confident that I can handle the snow on Howell Mountain but I still plan to take a structured mountain climbing class as soon as I can get registered.
This photo was taken from the top of the snow field, looking down the slope. In the distance you can see Mt Adams, Mt Hood (barely visible), and Mt St Helens on the farthest horizon. The nearer horizon with the saw-tooth shape, is the Tatoosh Range. While hiking back down I met a retired geologist who told me that the Tatoosh Range is what's left of the rim of the cauldron, upon which Mt Rainier sits. That cauldron isn't as big as the Yellowstone cauldron, and the Yellowstone cauldron isn't the biggest in the world either. WOW!
1 comment:
That is awesome!! I like the idea of throwing yourself down on the snow just to practice stopping.
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