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This summer Libby, our  friend Tony Kaplan and I climbed the Disappointment Cleaver route on Mt. Rainier, the largest of the Cascade volcanoes.  Although I had climbed the Kautz Glacier route on Rainier before with my Cousin Don,  this was my first time leading a group up this meaningful mountain.  We had a wonderful time together and a terrific climb.  I’ll mostly let the photos tell the story with only minor captioning.

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We started the climb through Paradise Meadows in heavy fog.

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The wildflowers and animals were abundant in the aptly named Paradise.  It reminded me of John Muir and his love of this particular place.

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As we emerged above the clouds, we found marmots out in force sunning themselves on warm rocks….

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as well as posing for photographers.

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Tony Crossing a crevasse below Camp Muir.

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Libby approaching Camp Muir

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Camp Muir is a welcome site for weary climbers.

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Climbing through Cathedral Gap.

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Climbers above the clouds.

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Reflections of Little Tahoma.

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Our Camp at Ingraham Flats was scenic.

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Getting some rest for the summit bid.  It’s tough to sleep cramped at 11,200 feet during the daylight, but the alarm is set for a midnight start.

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Strange things afoot in a neighboring camp as we fitfully tried to sleep.

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What a star show!

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After a long night of technical climbing by headlamp, the eastern sky lights up.

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It was a spectacular dawn.

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Surreal light on Mt. Adams.

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Nice light on Miss Libby.  The wind was blowing very hard up here.  I’d guess sustained winds of 35-40mph with higher gusts.

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Crossing a high crevasse.  We crossed many that were open and more treacherous during the dark of night.  In a couple of places we were happy for the fixed lines and anchors set up by RMI.

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Here you can see the wind taking the line.

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Where earth meets sky: Libby’s outlook

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Libby, Tony, and me on the Summit. (photo by Dave Johnson)

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The sharks fin crossing (over Tony’s right shoulder) was terrifying on the way up in the dark.  I worried about it coming down, but with proper care we had no problem.

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The Ingraham Glacier is impressively crevassed this late in the year.

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A tired party descends towards Paradise.

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Tired as I was, light like this made me glad I hauled an extra 20 pounds of camera gear!

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Sunsets don’t get much better than the one we witnessed at Pebble Creek.

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The above photo is a very high resolution panoramic merger taken at sunset from Camp Muir.  It reminds me of Mark Twain’s words after watching a sunset above the clouds on a Hawaiian volcano:

“I felt like the last man, neglected of the judgment and left pinnacled in mid-heaven, a forgotten relic of a vanished world.”

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There you have it.  The first pictographic story post on our new website’s blog.  We would love to hear your comments.

-Hudson and Libby.

FIRST ENTRY:

Welcome everyone!  This blog entry is to announce the dawn of our new photography website.  As this site grows and changes over the coming months, we will use the blog to post about photography, international travel and conservation issues both cultural and environmental.

Right now we are excitedly preparing for a trip to East Africa in December.

Feel free to post a comment.  Someone has to be the first…

-Hudson

Coastal Plain 1002 area

]]> http://global-exposures.com/2009/08/where-sky-meets-sea/feed/ 0 http://global-exposures.com/2009/08/oregon-waterfall/ http://global-exposures.com/2009/08/oregon-waterfall/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:57:06 +0000 Hudson http://global-exposures.com/?p=146