I made it!!!!!!!

Third time is a charm. We hiked (slogged) to Camp Muir on Friday. The day was overcast but that actually was a blessing. We got above the clouds for a while around 9,000ft. Even for a short hour or so, I got a bit burned through my shirt and a bit on the inside of my mouth. I do a lot of breathing with open mouth and sure enough, I got a bit burned on my tongue and upper mouth.

We left around 7am and got to Paradise around 9:30am. The parking lot and area around the lodge was snow free. We put on our gaters and booted up. We hit the trail by 10am.

The first 1/2 mile was snow free and we hit the first snow patch on the west side of Alta Vist. From there was a large snow patch until the climb up to Glacier Vista which was snow free. The view to the south was visible under the clouds.

By an hour, we had pass Panaroma Point and headed up to Pebble Creek (7200ft). From here it was mostly on the snow. After Pebble Creek, you climb a steep pitch to make it up on to the snow field. We were now in the clouds. Another hiker from Bonney Lake asked if he could climb with us since he had never been up Muir. “Sure!”

We continued up. Soon I passed where I had made it the previous year at around 8000ft. At noon, we paused a long the trail to eat lunch. By now the wind had picked up and we were getting cool. I pulled on the fleece vest.

Onward and upward. We stopped for another break at Moon Rocks (9000ft) an hour later. I had been lagging a bit behind so G and the hiker from Bonney Lake had been resting a bit. We pulled out the map to see where we were. I opened up one of the Cliff Shots for a burst of energy. The sun broke out a bit. After a brief break back to the slog. We just started up and the other hiker wanted to go back. We wished him well and off we went. We passed another hiker using power breathing and onward to the Muir glacier. The next hour and half we were in and out of the sun until finally the sun broke out and we could see the huts at Muir. So close and so far. It took me probably another half hour to make it. 4 1/2 hours.

We pulled out the snacks and rested on the warm rocks. The clouds swirled below us and above us the mountain sat like a sleeping god. The hiker we passed at Moon Rocks made it and we talked a bit about climbing. He gave us a shot of Grand Marnier to celebrate. We chatted and snacked.

It was time to head down. We said good bye to our fellow hiker and headed down. Sloshing. Sleeping. Falling. The clouds thickened and we were going from wand to wand. But soon we were below Pebble Creek and then on to asphalt. 2 hours from the start.

A long three hour drive and we were home. A hot bath and a soft bed never felt so good.