After setting up camp it was off to Ashland, WA, for lunch at Whittaker’s Base Camp. Twins Jim & Lou Whittaker are world class mountaineers (Jim was the first American to summit Mt Everest) & both are Seattle institutions for training almost all Mt Rainier guides for the last forty years. As we ate lunch whenever the sun came out everyone moved their chairs outside to the sunshine, whenever the sun clouded over everyone moved back next to propane heaters.
http://www.whittakermountaineering.com/
Then it was off to Elbe, Wa, for a walkabout. There really isn’t a town of Elbe anymore; now it is old train cars alongside the highway some used for a motel, & some used for restaurants. Off to the side we discovered the small historic Evangelische Lutherische Kirche. The docent made the mistake of offering to let us ring the church bell, Corrie jumped right on the offer & rang it several times!
http://www.elbehistoricchurch.com/
On the way back to the RV we discover the “Ex-Nihilo Sculpture Park” (aka Recycled Spirits of Iron) created by Dan Klennert. This is an open air art exhibit very similar to the one we stumbled across east of Marquette, MI, on 29SEP09. It was definitely intriguing & beautiful, as well as inspirational!
Wednesday morning in spite of the constant lite drizzle (or liquid sunshine as Dan calls it) we headed to the Nisqually entrance of Mount Rainier National Park in the Toad. Our first stop in the park was the Longmire Wilderness Visitor Center where the Longmire family had a “Medical Springs” resort back in the 1890s. Now there is a small museum about the Park, & the National Park Inn where we had coffee & snackies.
http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm
We then continued eastbound on the park road to Paradise with a stop to view Christine Falls. Arriving at Paradise the lite rain had turned to snow. Dan was hoping Corrie would see the alpine flowers that Rainier is famous for, but he didn’t realize they don’t come out until the snow pack is gone (ie early July, or even August)! So we toured the new Senator Henry M Jackson Visitor Center, where we viewed a great 20 minute film on the Park. Then we checked out the Paradise Inn built in early 1900s in what the Park Service calls the “rustic style”. A very beautiful building! On our return to camp on the same road, we stopped at Narada Falls to finish an excellent day.
Thursday morning, 17JUN, we got an early start so Dan could drive Forest Service Road 52 between Ashford & Packwood, WA, to re-enter the Park on the eastside at Ohanapecosh (don’t ask us how to say it). This is alternate & beautiful road that allows you to get to the east side of the park without retracing our drive of yesterday on the Park road via Longmire & Paradise.Upon entering the park on the east side we stopped at the Ohanapecash Visitor Center & learned about the NOV06 floods & mudslides when 18 inches of rain fell in 36 hours. The flooding & slides did extensive damage to the park & roads; some of which is still be repaired. We did enjoy better weather than yesterday because we are now in “rain shadow” of Rainier.
From the Ohanapecosh we went to the “Grove of the Patriarchs” trail. (Question – why not the Grove of the Matriarchs?) The trail takes you into an area where 1000 year old cedars & firs still survive. It is not as spectacular as the redwoods or sequoias of California, but definitely stunning & worthwhile to visit!
As we traveled back westward towards Paradise & Longmire we stopped to view Falls Creek, Nickel Creek, & Box Canyon. Box Creek was an unexpected natural wonder. It is a very narrow gorge anywhere from 115 to 170 feet deep, cut by Cowlitz River out of sheer rock. We are talking no more than 10 feet wide, & rock walls that are worn smooth by the river. Unfortunately as we headed west back to Paradise we left the protection of the rain shadow & were back to mist & drizzle.
We then left the park & headed to the “official” Curator’s office for the Park. Why? Because back in 1978 Dan actually summated Mt Rainer with four friends & he remembered that he signed some sort of log book at the top for the 50% who accomplish the task out of all those that try. After asking some of the Park Rangers where one could view the old books, we finally learned of the Curator.
But first the back-story:
>>>Back in 1978 a friend & CG coworker of Dan’s, Mike Wensman, asked Dan & another friend & CG coworker, Rich Prince, if they wanted to climb Mt Rainer on 4th July weekend with Mike, his wife Pat, & brother Joe? This was probably an offer Mike still regrets to this day! Rich & Dan said yes & asked what they needed to do to get ready? Mike gave them a list of equipment they needed to rent or buy (ie climbing boots, crampons, ice ax, light weight tent, light weight sleeping bag, freeze dried food, etc, etc, etc). The intention was to take several days to hike/climb to the summit & if lucky, see the distant fireworks in Tacoma, Seattle, etc, from the top of Rainier.
>>>On the appointed day we all met in the parking lot at Paradise in the National Park & registered to climb the mountain. The Wensmans had all done this several times & at least knew what they were doing. Rich & Dan were first timers & didn’t know it, but were way out of their league. They then shouldered their packs & hiked up hill from Paradise (5400 ft) to Camp Muir (10,200 ft). At this point Dan realized this was not just a day hike!!!
>>>Camp Muir is basically the last large flat area where large groups can pitch their tents & camp before climbing to the summit. There is even a stone “lodge” full of wooden bunk beds, where the first arrivals can claim a spot for their sleeping bags. It was here that Mike & Joe tried to teach Rich & Dan what to do if they should fall on the mountain. Since we would all be tied together it is in everyone’s best interest not to fall; & if you do, know how to “arrest” yourself so you don’t pull everyone into a crevasse!!!
>>>At about 0200 in the morning the commercial guides start taking their large groups from Camp Muir straight to the top. They leave so early because the sun hasn’t loosened the snow yet (ie reduced avalanche risk), & they want everything done in one day so they can make more money. We left later at around 0400 because we were spending the night at some narrow ledge at around 12,500 ft (Dan says the term narrow is generous).
>>>Even though we only climbed 2500 ft, the reduced oxygen content was kicking Dan & Rich’s butts big time. It was during the portion of the climb when one of rookies (ie it wasn’t Dan) fell & we learned the value of knowing how to arrest one’s self. Thankfully Joe, Pat & Mike did it correctly, while Dan was trying to figure out was going on as he got jerked off his feet! As we sat there recovering from the close call, we started to get pelted by rocks & small boulders from above (ie potential avalanche!). NOTE – back then almost no one wore climbing helmets! Mike yelled that we needed get out of there NOW, & we covered the next 100 yards of vertical in a sprint.
>>>The morning of 03JUL78 we awoke to discover that Pat was suffering from severe altitude sickness. To her credit she agreed to climb to the top but not spend the night. So we left most of gear on the ledge, took day packs, & headed to the top. Dan was hoping someone would steal his gear, so he didn’t have to pack it out.
>>>We made it to the top without any incidents, but it turns out that you are not truly at the top. You then have hike across the bowl to the other side to stand on the true top at Columbia Crest (14,410 ft). Since all the Wensmans had done this several times before, they decided to take a break & wait for Rich & Dan to hike across to the true summit (if they wanted to).
>>>So Dan & Rich hiked over to the true crest, where there was a log book to write your thoughts on the accomplishment. Dan made an entry in the log book, then pulled his favorite Rainier ball cap out of his day back & donned it, & then he reached into his day back & pulled out a 16 ounce can of Rainier beer! So somewhere in our photo albums in storage is a picture of Dan on top of Mount Rainier, wearing a Rainier beer ball cap, & enjoying 16 ounces of mountain freshness! (see previous BLOG entry for Dan’s affinity for Rainier Beer & its mountain freshness)
Anyway, we found the Curator’s office & discovered the log books are in the National Archives, but the Park “curator” had microfiche copies. Turns out the microfiche records had been made over ten years ago, somewhat in a “hurry” & the cross reference system wasn’t the best. Dan couldn’t remember if the year was 78 or 79, but the Curator found 78 first. Dan scanned through 2JUL to 4JUL with no luck, but remembered that the Curator said to check out several days on either side, because the pages were not always scanned in chronological order. So as he backtracked into June there it was his entry for 03JUL! His entry said:
“3 July 78 – Beautiful weather, hard climb. First time, I don’t think I will let myself be talked into this again, but well worth the effort.”
Funny thing is Dan listed everyone in the climbing party correctly, but called Rich Prince, Rick Prince? Must have been the altitude, he is sure it couldn’t have been the beer!
That night we had an excellent dinner at the Copper Creek Inn; where they specialize in dishes sauced in blackberries, not to mention fresh blackberry pie!
http://coppercreekinn.com/
It was a great three days, even though we never saw Mount Rainier! Remember as Mickey Rooney said when confronting the elusive wild MFR – Pop its top! Pop its top!
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