June 3, 2005, MRNP - Inter Glacier

Despite the not so good forcast prediction I was reluctant to just stay home and neither was Andy.  Met up with andyski at the Safeway in Enumsnatch shortly after 8am.  The drive went smooth and before long we arrived at the Whiteriver campgrounds.  Was a wee bit nippy in the parking lot.  Once in the woods it warmed up quickly.  Everynow and then we were treated to a nice breeze.  Within a mile of hiking the sun came beaming thru the trees, which soon added to our motivation.  We encountered our 1st snow patch if you could call it that at 5,400ft.  The trail for the most part is snow free.  Just before Glacier Basin there were some small sections to walk on.

Andy and I found a nice stash spot for our shoes along the debris path of trees.  While skinning the sun baked and the cool winds coming down the valley chilled.  Snow was super soft with hint of dirt and surface was cuppy at the start.  After 300ft the snow cleaned up and it smoothed out a bit.  So far the only people encountered were climbers.  Looked slow and arduous as they post-holed calf to knee deep.  Well after talking to a climber who said while descending he plunge stepped thru with one foot and couldn't feel the bottom, we decided to abandon skinning up and stuck on the stomped out boot trail.  The climber did mention he was not far from the boot pack either.  That was just the motivation needed to climb like the wind...not.

At 7,500ft there is a crevasse starting to open about 25 or so feet left of the boot track.  Andy and I noticed how variable snow conditions were and decided to stop at 7,950ft.  For the most part the surface was smooth.  However in area within poles reach, the snow was anywhere from rotten and hollow underneath, corn on top hard unbreakable crust, and breakable crust with a foot plus of mush below.  That's where we pulled out.  After each of us had a couple of turns it was suprisingly good!  So good that at 7,000ft we stopped and climbed back up again.  Actually stopping here was good cause snow was becoming increasingly sticky.  On the way up we got stalled by some rope teams but eventually made it to a roll at 8,400ft.  A break followed along with gathering all the views.  The cloud deck was hovering around 6,000ft all around the valley and us.  Winds were blowing clouds thru St Elmo's Pass.  Directly behind us was Rainier in all it's glory.  Andy snapped some final shots on his camera that he forgot he had and got ready.

Instead of coming down the near the boot track a decision was made to traverse towards Ruth and ride the section far boarders right of the glacier.  It turned out to be a good call cause it was better than any groomers.  Okay maybe not Bachelors.  So soft and smooth with a velvety feel as we hissed down.  I didn't bother stopping until I started rounding the base of Ruth.  Why would you want to interupt a line like that.  While looking back at what part of our lines were still visible, I couldn't help but notice how both of Andy's resembled a boarders pattern while my line looked more like a skiers.  Only difference was if you looked closely you could see the drag from his poles.  The remaining couple hundred feet to Glacier Basin camp was soft and non-sticky at all.  I believe the winds blowing thru Elmo's was running down the valley and cooled the surface down a tad.  While sorting gear Andy and I both agreed that was the run to end the day with and even hang our hats on it.

As we started our hump out we bumped into ranger Dave M.  He reassured that Sunrise was planning to be open next weekend 6/11.  He also mentioned there's no guarantee either.  We chatted briefly and exchanged funny stories of the not so smart people.  Dave had so many.  With the trail being mostly snow free the hike out went fast.  And just like that the harvest was over.  Won't forget this line...well until next time.