Finally, the promised and much anticipated high pressure moved in, giving us a beautiful warm day spring day to visit Mount Rainier. Camp Muir is always a great winter adventure, or training trip in the spring. We have met a senior couple that go up every weekend. Camp Muir to Paradise makes for a great ski descent. We were fortunate to have about 6 inches of new snow from the day or two before.

Mike, Doerte, Milos, and Karel skinned up from Paradise. Simon hiked up with his skis on his pack. The route was in place and easy to follow on firm snow. Visibility was excellent. We had fun watching the many groups out on the Nisqually Glacier doing their glacier practice.

Going up the steep section to Panorama Point the skiers did switchbacks, and the hikers went straight up. Panorama Point was sunny with not a hint of wind. Some days it can be extremely windy and icy but on this day it was pleasant. We sat and enjoyed the views for a few minutes.

Doerte is almost to Panorama Point. This is the steepest section. The peaks in the clouds behind her is the Tatoosh Range.

Above Panorama Point we had a great view of Anvil Rock, 9,548’, and Gibraltar Rock at 12,660’. We were somewhere in the middle of a long line of folks headed up the Muir Snowfield for Camp Muir. We estimated over 100 people out for the day. Lots of hikers, snowshoers, and skiers, all doing well on the firm snow.

We met a few climbing parties, most of which turned around because of avalanches above 11,000’. One party continued to 13,000’ and were caught in an avalanche before turning around. Another party of two reportedly made the summit despite the extremely dangerous conditions. Karel surmised that yes, it was indeed possible to win at Russian Roulette.

Most of our happy team at Camp Muir! Milos, Mike, Doerte, and Karel.   Thanks Milos for the photo!

At Camp Muir parties were digging out an area for a few tents, and one party was in the hut. RMI led a couple of large parties up for the day. We had great views of the Mountain. The Tatoosh Range, Adams, and Hood were all obscured by a cloud.

The Muir Hut. Nothing fancy, but it is out of the wind and mostly dry.

At 3 pm we headed down on pretty good snow. Milos led the way. Some places we found some nice powder, while closer to the ridge the powder was blown away. We had a great time! I was surprised at how many times we had to stop to rest. Doerte even ran into Ben from the WAC.

Ira Spring likes to tell the story of leaving the warm, sunny Camp Muir, expecting to be at Paradise in a few hours. Descending into the clouds, it took his party two days to reach Paradise! A compass (and having the bearings for Paradise) is a life saver in this situation!

Doerte and Karel skiing the Muir Snowfield! Photo by Milos!

In the early days they of skiing on the Muir Snowfield they had a yearly race from Camp Muir to Paradise! What a sight that must have been!

In some places we had breakable crust. In one such place near Panorama Point Doerte took a fall and twisted her ankle. She heard something pop. We all analyzed the injury, and used our MOFA training. We all felt it best to keep the boot on. Doerte decided to walk out rather than risk further injury. She bravely hobbled down the mountain to Paradise.

A great day. One that we would be happy to do every year. 4,788’ gain. 8 miles roundtrip. A lot of folks on the mountain but all nice folks. There are places with less people and better snow, but it is always a treat to get the great views of Mount Rainier,

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