second chance - part 1

July 29, 30, 31. Weather conditions looked favorable for the third scheduled 3 Summits climb of the season.  Eddie invited the local members of the two unsuccessful summit attempts (my route, Disappointment Cleaver, and the Emmons Glacier route) to join the third climb.  The original group headed up to camp Muir early in the afternoon on Friday.  Kirsten drove me and our rope leader Ben down to Paradise later Friday afternoon.  The three of us hiked up to Muir together, arriving just after 8:30 PM.

 I accepted the outcome of first summit attempt, though felt unfulfilled.  When offered a chance to try again, I canceled plans I had for the weekend and took the afternoon off of work.  All of the preparation and focus I dedicated to the climb seemed suspended; I had not attained my goal.  There was no climax, the build-up was waiting for a release.  Going into the second weekend, I intuitively suspected I would have the opportunity to relieve some of the pressure of a self-directed desire to get to the top of the mountain.

Lovely Kirsten, near Pebble Creek en route to Muir.

View from camp at sunset.

On Saturday, we roped up (sans crampons) and took a day trip to Ingraham Flats.  To get to the flats, we crossed through a sketchy rock-fall area near Cathedral Rock.

Giant crevasse.  The crevasses were opened much wider than two weeks ago.

At Ingraham Flats.  In the picture below, the visible rock area below and to the right of the summit is called Disappointment Cleaver.  Our route will lead us through the rocks to the top of the cleaver, followed by a short traverse around the mountain until we begin a slog more or less directly up to the top of the crater.  Some teams choose to camp at the Flats as opposed to Muir.  It is approximately 1,000 feet higher than Muir.  Other teams camp at Muir for a night, then move to Ingraham for the evening before a summit push.

The other rope teams were: Eddie (our dedicated leader, pictured below with Little Tahoma in the background), Flora and Wei.  John Kaster, Mina, Carlie, and Shannon.