The rooms at base camp were cheap. Ours is the third from left.

Preparing to leave Paradise Lodge parking lot (Elev. 5,400). As soon as we hit the trail it started snowing. It didn't stop until we hit Muir Camp five hours later.

Taking a break.
It's early enough that I can still manage a smile.

Did I mention it was snowing? We were warned that lighting hazard was high due to the storm. Look, there's a couple of perfect lightning rods.

We had to forego our last break and quicken the pace due to the lightning hazard. We broke out of the clouds a few hundred feet before camp.

That big box is our "hotel" for the night. Climbers sleep in a room on the right, guides in a room on the left. The small building is the outhouse.

Most of climbing "Group C" at Muir Camp (Elev. 10,500). Jeff and Bob are second and fourth from left. Charlie (far right) was one of our guides.

Lynn (far left) summited, but his nephew, Mike, didn't. Forgetting to apply sunscreen during an earlier practice hike, he spent the week taking cortisone shots for a blistered face.

Inside "the box".
21 guys and one gal sleeping shoulder to shoulder and three levels deep. Sharp stuff (ice axes, crampons, poles) and packs stayed outside, buried under snow by morning.

"Lights out" was around 7pm, but the sun didn't set until 9:30. They woke us at 11:30pm for the summit attempt. Can you say sleep deprivation?

Sunrise from Ingraham Glacier around 4:30am. We've been climbing hard in the dark since 1:30am. The temp was 10 degrees when we left camp, and even colder on the glacier. Winds were from 10 to 20 mph.

Looking down on Ingraham Flats on the lower Ingraham Glacier. Arrow shows the tent where we left a climber that couldn't continue.

We shook uncontrollably from the cold while taking a break here. The word "hypothermic" seemed to come up a lot.

The vistas were spectacular up high. Here, a "sea of clouds" lies over the state of Washington.

This spire is Little Tahoma Peak (Elev. 11,138), first climbed in 1895. Tahoma is the native Indian name for Mt. Rainier, which was named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792 after his friend Rear Admiral Rainier.

Climbers negotiating the upper Ingraham Glacier. This was our turning-around point (Elev. 12,300). Rope teams were one guide leading three climbers.

Clear and cold. Bob and Jeff on the upper Ingraham. I've got a lot of layers on, let me tell you.

Descending the Ingraham. Lots of crevasses to walk around or step over (hence the ropes).

All but home free. Taking our last break on the lower Ingraham before returning to Muir Camp. Later in the day we descended to Paradise Lodge. It snowed the whole way, of course.