On Friday, we started packing up the vehicles at ~6 am and had a nice breakfast. We piled into the mini-van and set off for Mt. Rainier. We stopped at the White River Wilderness Information Center to register and have a short discussion with a Ranger. Then, we drove to the trailhead, the White River Campground at 4,300 feet.
At the trailhead, everybody put their mountaineering boots on and strapped their ice axes, shovels, snow pickets, snow anchors, camp pads, etc to their packs. We applied sunblock, added batteries to things, and figured out how to use our helmet cams 8^)
It took about an hour and finally, we were ready! We gathered at the signpost to discuss the days itinerary and talk about pace. (more…)