Disappointment Cleaver Route - August 1-3, 2005
We awoke in the morning to find the common theme of the day... CLOUDS ! Our first day, the objective was to get to Camp Muir at just over 10,000ft. We would gain about 5,000ft climbing through the clouds. That night we camped in the shelter and got word from the rangers that the next day would bring an on-shore system from the coast that would mean possible high wind. We decided to hang out in Muir and wait for the next window of opportunity. The next morning was clear and calm... the on-shore system never materialized. But we spent the day resting, putting up a tent and acclimatizing. At 1am the next morning we were up and ready to start climbing on firm glacial snow. The nightime hiking as cold, and calm as we ascended the remaining 5,000ft. It looked like a regular highway on the way up... chains of head lamps inched upwards into the darkness. We arrived at the summit approximately 7am and returned to Camp Muir at 12:30pm. Once we arrived back at Camp Muir, we packed up our tent and raced down the mountain. We descended about 10,000 in one day. When we hit the lower trail - we were barraged by questions from curious tourists. Once we arrived at the car, made phone calls, enjoyed an ice cold soda - it was time to return gear. We arrived at the RMI rental shop in Ashford, returned the gear and enjoyed pizza and beer. It was an awesome experience I would do again in a heartbeat.
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