My First Alpine Climb!

"Sun-blindness is a real thing."

"Do you have an axe?" Why would I need an axe?! "In case you fall."

"You can get sunburned inside your nostrils and on the roof of your mouth."

Ok, maybe that last one wasn't as scary, but it certainly didn't sound fun. 

These are all things I heard the day I agreed to go alpine climbing on the InterGlacier. This would be a challenge. There would be no resting once the climb began. This was out of my comfort zone. But I moved here for THIS. I moved here because I want to go outdoors and go on these adventures. So I said yes - and that's where our story begins. 

For my mom's sake, I feel I should specify up-front that this hike didn't require an axe.

We hit the road Saturday afternoon on May 31. Kristina and I picked up Matt, a fellow adventurer, and we drove two hours to camp near Rainier National Park. Upon arrival, tents went up, and we met up with our group. Soon after, we went down to the river to soak in the gorgeous views. 

Tent buddies!

At this moment, I knew I made the right choice. 2 hours from Seattle!

Um, the river was really cold and RAGING. Sooo... I had help crossing.

Don't forget flip-flops next time, genius. 

That evening, we all enjoyed drinks and s'mores around the campfire. Fireball was passed around, as well as some awesome stories. I went easy on the beverage center as I wanted to be on top of my game in the morning. 

You know it's a party when there's a sombrero.

FIREBALL! A Seattle staple, it seems.

After a solid night's sleep, Kristina and I awoke early at 4:30 to start the day (others may have awoke later...). Bags were packed, filled with lots of layers, sunscreen, and chow. We drove to our starting point and that's where it started to get real.

Group shot!

Trekking poles are a Godsend.

We started our trek at 4400 feet at the White Salmon Trail Head. We hiked for about 90 minutes before hitting snow. Then, the skiers and snowshoers strapped on their skins and snowshoes, respectively. Soon after hitting the snow, I crossed my very first snow bridge. For all the midwesterners who don't know what a snow bridge is, it's as simple as it sounds: a bridge made of snow. You tread quickly and carefully.

At first it wasn't so bad. "I got this! I could hike for days!" 15 minutes later, I started to get nervous... "We're not even halfway there. They said it would take another 4-5 hours to summit, and that doesn't even include the trek back. I'm an idiot. An out of shape idiot." Nevertheless, I ventured on. I didn't want to slow everyone down, so I kept climbing. Not to mention, my snowshoeing buddy, Casey, was trucking it like a champ!

Theresa leading the charge! She's goaling to climb 50,000" in June - AMAZING!

Snowshoers can climb too!

The InterGlacier is a small glacier on the northeast face of Mount Rainier. It's beautiful. It certainly helps that it was a gorgeous day! You wouldn't think it when you're trekking across the snow, but damn, it gets hot! Lots of sunscreen was reapplied throughout the climb.

Luckily, skinning up and snowshoeing up are done at about the same pace!

Me: "This sucks. Bad mistake. Must work on quad muscles."

Hey! You see that tiny dot behind Casey?
That's me.

Just as I thought, ok, I have to stop soon, there was an end in sight. Of the 8 who had started, 5 were sitting a little bit above me. After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached them and learned this was our stopping point - 8200 feet. I laughed a little maniacal laugh, my legs shook, and I sat. I SAT. FINALLY. I learned that the other two climbers, Theresa and Josh, had continued upward to summit the glacier - because their badass level was just that much higher than everyone else's that day. 

Once I caught my breath, I was ready for reward. Yes, the view was incredible, but I was damn hungry and I had a sandwich with my name on it. Beer too. Once that was taken care of, I felt awesome. I looked out and looked down, not even able to see where we had started. The reward was equivalent to the challenge. Great. 

Summit Beer!

I live here. <pinch pinch> Still real. 

Then, I had a bad thought. Two, actually. 
1.  I had to pee. Badly. Look at these pictures, do you see any trees? bushes?!? 
2.  I still had to go all the way back down.

These were closely related as #2 really made me nervous for #1. Well, when in Rome, (or at the top of a glacier in the middle of nowhere), one does what one must 20 feet behind friends. Or people you just met the day before.

Once #1 was settled (ha! toilet humor!), I was no longer as concerned about #2. Little did I know what a treat I was in for. Far and away, the best part of my day was glissading down the glacier. Glissading is the AMAZING way to get down a hike such as this if you don't ski/snowboard. You sit on your butt and scoot. Gravity does the rest. It was so much fun!!! I laughed the whole way down.

HAA!!! I'm literally sliding down a glacier!

"This feels fast, maybe I should slow down for a second... Okay GO!"

Glissaders in their natural habitat.

I wish I could say glissading took Casey and I the whole way down, but that's not how life works, kids. Thankfully, what took us about an hour to climb up, was glissaded in less than 10 minutes. Then, it was back to standard, good old hiking. 

I was on the one in the back right corner, far off in the distance.

Water Feature!

Couldn't have asked for a better group!

When we arrived at the parking lot a few hours later, I took off my boots and socks as fast as I could, for they were soaked. You can't slide feet-first down a glacier without giving your feet a swim. We sat and ate. Then, we drove to a restaurant and sat and ate again. Exhausted, satiated, and happy, we parted ways.

That day, I walked 13.45 miles (that's 32,757 steps). The hike took 9 hours and I climbed 3800 feet. Equally as exciting (not really), I didn't totally roast myself in the sun! I had one weird sunburn on my elbow and had a slight sunburn inside my ears (seriously! the sun was everywhere). Sure, I was sore for the next three days but what are sore muscles compared to climbing a mountain??