With the increased numbers of visitors utilizing Camp Muir as summer takes off, rangers have been finding more and more trash around Camp Muir that isn't being managed properly. No trash removal is provided by the park service at any of the high camps. All trash must be hiked out. Unfortunately, people are increasingly leaving trash hidden or stuffed in corners around camp, in the bathrooms, hidden in the snow, and piled in the public shelter. This is starting to have a significant impact on camps, as it is attracting mice. The public shelter is the publics' shelter. Not the rangers' or guide services.' This means it is a shared resource. A resource every user is responsible for. People all too often convince themselves that leaving their half-eaten Mountain House or fuel canister is "helpful." But soon, every other climber does the same, and a mound of trash is left behind. Please be mindful of this and hike out all of your trash. Help manage the shelter by hiking out any other trash you may find. Leave the shelter like you would want to find it when you first arrive.
When it comes to human waste, more is also emerging on route and around camps. Please utilize the bathrooms around camp and the blue waste bags for disposal on route. Remember to carry them with you back to camp. The blue bags are provided by the ranger stations if you forgot to bring any. Don't leave them on route with the expectation they will be there on the descent. They will blow away and can become an unpleasant object to have fall down the mountain. The park service does provide disposal at the high camps for the blue bags. There will be marked barrels near the bathrooms. If you are unsure of where to dispose of them, please ask! Don't stuff them into the toilet systems, which may break the system, or hide them around camp. Several unsavory discoveries have been made.
DC Route Update:
The heatwave over the past week brought freezing levels up to 17,000' at times, with little to no radiative cooling and strong winds. Most climbers are shifting start times earlier in order to climb through the night so they are done by the time the sun and heat hits the route. This helps minimize exposure to rockfall and crevasse crossing hazards. The loss of snowpack means the Cleaver is now largely rock until the upper portion. Travel carefully and short rope through this section to help minimize knocking down loose rock.
As of Sunday the 7th, the route from the top of the Cleaver continues up a steep traverse where there are handlines and fixed pickets for running protection. Remember that these pickets need to be checked before use as the warm temps have melted them out. The route then arrives at a series of switchbacks before the route continues up two vertical ladders to make it up a large step around 13,200'.
We have received multiple reports since yesterday (7/10) that a large crevasse collapsed around 12,800' where the switchbacks started. This occurred sometime in the afternoon and a party descending late in the day was trapped above for a short time before being forced to rappel into the crevasse and climb out the bottom. This serves as a reminder that parties need to be prepared to route-find, safely utilize technical climbing skills, and potentially climb back up and then descend alternative routes. Multiple guide parties are currently working to establish a reroute around this new feature as it has stopped multiple parties who have been unable to find a route around. Please be respectful of these parties as they work.
Additional Notes:
Please remember that the DC route is popular, but it is still a technical, high-altitude mountaineering route that requires skilled use of alpine climbing and glacier travel techniques and equipment.
Many parties are climbing with the expectation of somebody being nearby to quickly provide assistance and are projecting their risk onto others without consideration. If you can't fully manage your own risk, consider shifting to another objective on Rainier or in the Cascades to build those skills. With the current reroute underway, these skills are even more important, as you may have to do your own route-finding. The ability of your party to be self-sufficient is imperative for a safe and successful mission.
