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Summerland and the Meany Crest, Mount Rainer

June 25, 2006. With the Catwalk hike under our belts, we headed to Rainier to for some more snow travel. We bypassed the Summerland Camp and scrambled up some steep snow slopes and exposed scree to the Meany Crest (about 7300 ft.) with a great panoramic view of the north-east side of Rainier. (Let's say we did this on purpose, instead of getting lost on the way to the Camp :) The trip down from the Crest was one wicked glissade. Some of these pictures where taken by Bryan. (10+ miles round trip, about 3500 ft. gain)

Summerland Trail

[Along Fryingpan Creek]
[Along Fryingpan Creek (1)][Along Fryingpan Creek (2)][Along Fryingpan Creek (3)]
Along Fryingpan Creek: Bryan and Srikanth crossing Fryingpan Creek to enter Summerland. (1) A pretty snow waterfall in the distance seen along the trail. (2) A butterfly by the creek. (3) Ice bridges. Where do they lead? Off-route of course. :)
[Little Tahoma and Rainier]
[Little Tahoma and Rainier (1)]
Little Tahoma and Rainier: There's us, blissfully unaware that we are just about to go off route. (1) Wide angle of the same location without us.

The Meany Crest

[Slightly West of Summerland]
[Slightly West of Summerland (1)][Slightly West of Summerland (2)][Slightly West of Summerland (3)][Slightly West of Summerland (4)]
Slightly West of Summerland: Rainier and Goat Island Mountain. (1) Srikanth and me, working hard. :) (2) Taking a break. (3) Yup. (4) We're getting closer to Rainier at least.
[A Little Scrambling]
[A Little Scrambling (1)][A Little Scrambling (2)][A Little Scrambling (3)]
A Little Scrambling: With the snow turning to mush in the afternoon sun, we took to the scree. Bryan, taking a breather. (1) Hm... I look like a rock. (2) Down toward the creek and Goat Island. (3) And more rocks to climb.
[The Crest]
[The Crest (1)][The Crest (2)]
The Crest: Wow. We definitely passed the Summerland Camp now. :) The crest gives you an awesome view of the Panhandle Gap, a big snow bowl below the crest, and Rainier and Goat Island. It was a little too late to follow that last bit of boot trail to the 7500 ft peak at the base of the Fryingpan Glacier, so we settled for this. (1) Profile of the Gap and the crest ridge. (2) Me. Not sure what my face is doing.
[Panhandle Gap]
[Panhandle Gap (1)][Panhandle Gap (2)]
Panhandle Gap: Wide angle of the Panhandle Gap, covered in snow. Still plenty of backpackers heading for it along the Wonderland Trail. (1) Wildflowers on the Crest with Rainier. (2) More flowers.
[Glissade!]
[Glissade! (1)][Glissade! (2)][Glissade! (3)]
Glissade!: Me, a the bottom of the first snow slope below the Crest. The next one, which begins where the slope in this photo appears to cliff out, is much, much steeper and bigger. :) (1) Damn, that was fun. (2) A certifiable winter wonderland, in summer. (3) 1.5 hours up on feet, 15 minutes down on butts.
[Misc. on the Hike Out]
[Misc. on the Hike Out (1)][Misc. on the Hike Out (2)]
Misc. on the Hike Out: I see you Mr. Marmot. (1) Trying to capture the rushing creek. (2) A lot of snow melted today.

Last modified: Wed Aug 09 01:37:22 CDT 2006