August 20, 2005, Muir / Paradise Glacier

My wife had never been to Camp Muir and was interested in seeing the mountain from close up. I wouldn't ordinarily bother hauling board or boards up this late (well, unless I really needed August or September turns) but what the heck, good training weight and maybe I'd get a few scratchy turns. Started around 10:20, fortunately not too hot yet. Good breeze stayed with us and got pretty feisty in fact above 8500. The "snow" on the Muir route was pathetic, two short patches and only starting in earnest above 7500. Hard pebbly ice interspersed with squishy slush. Higher, large cups and footprints everywhere. Hmmm. Nothing looked rideable. Oh well nice hike. Hundreds of other folks. The RMI trains. Lots of people in light tennis shoes. Very few others carrying something as apparently useless as a snowboard (but many people with sheets of plastic or bags, attempting ungainly looking glissades through the ice and slush. We made it up in about 4 hours thirty, pretty good time for my wife who hasn't done all that many 4K days, or hiked much at altitude. Muir was a mob scene, the wind and people stomping everywhere causing grit to fly and get in your mouth. An interesting hoi polloi I suppose but not that pleasant a place for a picnic after all, I was hoping we'd find a place for a leisurely late lunch.
At first I thought I'd try far skiers right, where the stuff perched over the Nisqually is sometimes less cupped. But just 100 feet below Muir were some fairly lengthy fairly broad crevasses, long before reaching anywhere near the Nisqually edge. Hmm Plan B. And by the way even the boot pack had two different points where there were 1 foot wide 20+ feet deep cracks just off the track about 9800, exposure holes to view them possibly formed by someone finding these the exciting way.
Made my way through hellish cups over to Anvil Rock where things improved somewhat, I had seen three other sliders here on way up. About 100 feet of nonsnow then to get onto Paradise Glacier, which looked a LOT more inviting than the Muir slopes. Fairly significant numbers of fossil tracks but just enough room to start a new set between most of the time. No more than an inch on top was soft but that inch was grabby, albeit I might be overdue for a wax. Hugged the skiers right edge to avoid crevasses, which were obvious and large. Hopped off right by McClure. Coming up that way too would have been more fun than the Muir slog, would have even been skinnable.
I think that this slope might have hope for the very start of September, especially if you hire some snowboarders to sideslip off the old fossil tracks for you and make a nice lane. The Muir is done done done, unless and until at least 6 inches of snow rehabs it.
Finished the day with a luxurious dinner for two in the Lodge dining room, since this day was a sort of overdue anniversary adventure. Certainly tastier than whatever the Muir overnighters were firing up for dinner, and no flying grit got into my Pike Ale!