second chance - part 2

On Saturday (July 30), we aimed to leave camp at 11 PM for our summit attempt.  John (Kaster, my tent buddy) boiled water and we filled our bottles after our day trip to Ingraham Flats.  I put a couple of my homemade date/nut/seed/carob balls in my pack, along with a couple of liters of water, extra layers, and my camera.  We crawled into our sleeping bags around 6 PM, and set the alarm for 10 PM.   There is a lot of human traffic in and out of Camp Muir throughout the day,  and it can get noisy.  I put ear plugs in and actually slept for about three hours.  We woke, boiled snow for warm drinks, and dressed.   The sky was clear as far as I could see, and the sky was littered with stars.  No moon in sight.  For the climb, I wore a thermal layer of pants and top, waterproof pants, fleece, waterproof shell, gaiters, climbing harness, knit cap, gloves, mittens, helmet (rock fall), headlamp attached to helmet, boots, crampons.  Ice axe in hand.

We made it to the top of Disappointment Cleaver before sunrise.  It was windy; compared to two weekends ago, it was a 6 out of 10 versus 8.  The path was wider and carved deeper into the mountain.  I did not feel as afraid as I did the first time.  Perhaps it was the added experience, different weather conditions, or brighter spirit.  Regardless, I felt more confident and comfortable during the climb.  Sunrise was beautiful; clouds began closing in approximately 2,000 feet from the summit.  From that point onward, wind thrust snow and ice in our faces.  By the time we arrived to the crater rim, our outer garments were covered in ice.  It looked as though our clothes were white.  When were were approximately 1,000 feet from the top, I had a moment where I felt ice frozen to my cheeks, and wondered if my skin was going to be frostbitten.  I smiled at the irony, having grown up in Fairbanks Alaska without incident of frostbite, only to voluntarily place myself in frigid conditions and get cold injury while doing something I deem 'fun'.  Fortunately, the drama remained a creation of my mind and I did not get frostbite on Rainier.  
The crater conditions were similar to the ascent; windy, freezing, low visibility.  I pulled my camera out to take a photo, and discovered the cold drained my battery.  Kirsten's lens was frozen; we got no pictures at the top.  When I finally did stumble into the crater I felt dazed at first.  Eight hours of climbing and then stop.  The effort halted.  The 'true summit' on Mt. Rainier lies 300 feet above our terminus of that morning; a 30-45 minute walk across the crater from where our route deposited us.  The weather dictated where our summit would be that morning.  In that moment, I wanted to go farther and touch the absolute highest point on the mountain.  So I could know I went as far as possible. Going farther was not an option; so we hugged, stood in shock and watched other groups enter the crater, then turned around and headed back down the mountain.  The pictures below were taken with Kirsten's camera on the descent, at the top of the cleaver and Ingraham Flats.
The bummer of the trip was discovered when we returned to Camp Muir, approximately twelve hours after we left the evening before.  Wind was as strong at Muir as we felt higher on the mountain, and Ben's tent blew out of camp carrying both his and Kirsten's sleeping pads, bags, and extra clothes.  As far as I know, none of the loss has been recovered.  Rangers told Ben that the tent were to be found, he could be given a ticket for littering and fined.