USA/WA: Climbing Mount Rainier – On Top & Descent
Mount Rainier is the highest stratovolcano in the continental USA, rising to 14441 ft / 4392 m. Climbing is no simple walk – it’s a technical route required using crampons, ice axes, and being tied in a group of four. Every year, there are fatalities. And if the weather doesn’t cooperate, you have to turn around. Luckily, I got perfect weather, and after climbing in complete darkness for about 5 hours, we were on the top with a view of the round caldera and the surrounding sea of clouds. The descend was perhaps the most spectacular part, because now you could see all the glaciers and massive crevasses all around you.
