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| Looking up at the DC from just below Ingraham Flats. |
There’s some crisp fall notes in the air this week! A blip of 7000’ freezing levels rolled through and cooled things down. The route still continues to be in reasonable shape - especially for this time of year! Climbers have been making it to the top with reasonable trip times, mostly due to the direct nature of the route. Ladders and planks are still in place. The cleaver itself is mostly rock now. A couple of steep snow fins on the upper mountain and a couple of skeletal glacial ice patches lower down have melted out. Be sure to have the proper mountain boots and crampons for glacial travel.
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| Crossing the ladder just before traversing onto the cleaver. |
Also, as a reminder, you must do two things before climbing Mount Rainier:
- Pay the Climbing Fee at Pay.gov
- Pick up your Climbing Permit in-person at a Wilderness Information Center
All climbers must pay the fee and each group must have a permit - don’t leave the trailhead without doing both of those things! While paying the Climbing Fee is pretty straightforward, some of the steps to getting a climbing permit can be a bit confusing, but don’t fret! This late in the season there’s generally plenty of walk-up permits - just come on in and say hi to the rangers and we’ll help you through the process of getting one. See you on the mountain!
