Mt. Rainier  -  2006

Day 2  -  Onto Emmons Glacier, Ascending to Base Camp 2

The 2nd day on Mt. Rainier, the weather was a bit better.  We broke down Camp #1 and started up the last part of the Interglacier towards a point on the Steamboat Prow where we could cross over and drop down onto the Emmons Glacier.  It's an easier crossing with a June snow pack, but you still don't want to fall, so we short roped the team to minimize the fall impact.  I'm sure this crossing (pic #3 below) is nasty in July / August.

Once safely onto Emmons Glacier, we continued up towards Camp Shurman, which basically sits on a ridge below the Steamboat Prow.  The sun came out briefly and it got pretty warm.

We did a pit stop at Camp Shurman, though most everyone was afraid of the Shurman open air outhouse style toilet.  I'll admit that I did have to wear a bandana over my face when using it - but hey, that's easier than a WAG bag on the glacier.

After the rest/pit stop at Shurman, we headed up again onto Emmons Glacier, towards a flat spot known as Emmons Flats - where we would make Camp #2.  Our guides probed out a safe zone and we set up camp.

We finished camp setup around 5:30 p.m., had a hot dinner and talked briefly about the alpine wakeup schedule and plans for the summit attempt that night / next day.  Most everyone was in tents and trying to get to sleep by 8:00ish for the 11:30 pm wakeup.  I missed a great sunset on Rainier, but here were a few shots from the evening.