Loading the packs

After a somewhat less-than-restful night in the car (Brian sleeping across the back seat, I fully reclined in the passenger seat) we woke up at 6 to start hiking. A good night's sleep is really overrated when it comes to glacier travel.

Here's Brian loading up his pack at the trailhead. I, of course, had my pack fully loaded and was ready to go, just taking pictures while waiting for him.

Mount Rainier, Part Deux!

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted to this blog, almost a whole year.

The last time was August of 2008 after we'd trained for our first, unsuccessful attempt at Washington's highest peak and the third highest in the lower 48 states. Of course, this first attempt was not accompanied by a camera. (I think I forgot mine, and Brian forgot to charge his battery; something silly like that.) The photos below were taken on a practice run.

In any case, our party did not make the summit. The three of us were turned back within about 200 feet in a blinding wind storm and walked all the way back to the car not having achieved our goal.

So, summer of 2009 afforded us another chance. This would be my third attempt at the summit in total, and the adage held true: it was a charm.