Michelle and I really wanted to summit Mt. Rainier this season, but we weren’t able to get our ducks in a row early enough (we own neither ice axes nor crampons, and we need some mountaineering training). So we decided to hike up to Camp Muir again, utilizing the knowledge we had (and mistakes we’d made) from our previous trip back in June.

We got our things together the night before, and got up early Saturday morning to start the long drive to Paradise, WA. After a quick stop in Graham, WA to drop the dog off with a sitter, we arrived at an already very crowded Visitor’s Center. We also arrived to an absolutely amazing site: lush, green grass, beautiful wildflowers and Mt. Rainier towering over us against a beautiful blue sky. What a stark contrast to when we were here in June!

I had decided back in June that I was ready to ask Michelle a very important question, and after our memorable and unfortunate first visit to Mt. Rainier (things got even worse for Michelle the night after we returned), I knew that our next visit would be the perfect time to do so. But more on that to come shortly.

Michelle, so unsuspecting.

We started up the paved path (lame, but I understand the whole ADA thing, so it’s cool), making good time and passing lots of people on the way. It didn’t take long for us to hit the Muir Snowfield. This appeared to be a turn-around point for many people, but we pushed on. We donned slightly more appropriate attire, re-applied the sunscreen, and stepped out onto the snow. We knew we were starting the hardest part of the hike.

We moved methodically up the snowfield, not too fast but not too slow, maintaining a steady pace. We took a couple of short breaks to take some pictures and grub some food. We reached Camp Muir about 1:45, approximately 3 hours and 45 minutes after leaving the parking lot. Pretty good for 4 miles and 4600′ of elevation! I proceeded to take a short nap, as I was tired and didn’t feel very good (I hadn’t eaten much and probably wasn’t drinking enough water, so a nap was the only thing that took away the light headache and nausea).

After chatting with a few others and generally enjoying the view, the time came to start our descent. But first, the very important question I mentioned earlier:

Yay! Seeing as this was honestly the only reason I suggested we hike Camp Muir again this season (even though I knew we wouldn’t be able to summit Mt. Rainier, which is where I really wanted to ask her to marry me), the trip was a HUGE success! Icing on the cake: neither of us had the slightest hint of sunburn, haha.

The lessons we learned from our first trip to Camp Muir served us very well on this trip, as we aren’t the kind of people to make the same mistakes twice. We felt much more confident in what we were doing and how it needed to be done, that I think we enjoyed the trip a lot more because there was little to worry about. The only downside to the trip? We didn’t bring plastic bags to sit on for glissading, and snow pants alone don’t really do the trick (too slow AND you end up with a cold, wet butt).

Next year we’re going to summit Mt. Rainier, for sure!