Trip Report

This July the members of Team Sight Unseen gathered in southern Washington to climb and train together. Team Sight Unseen is a group of blind, visually impaired, and sighted climbers all working together to climb mountains while expanding the perceptions and expectations of what is possible. The team was first created by Justin Grant, Brad Jafke, and Kyle Coon. These three first met on a trip to Peru’s Machu Pichu and then later summited together on Kilimanjaro. Joseph Mayfield joined the team shortly thereafter. This trip to Washington was planned and organized by Peter Green, an Oregon native with a love for the Cascades. And joining for his first trip with the team was Ben Meyer, another mountain loving Oregonite. Kyle was unable to join the group in Washington; because he was in the process of training his new seeing-eye dog.

 

Day 1

The trip began on Saturday, July 18. Brad (flying in from Wisconsin) met up with Justin and Joseph (both flying in from Texas) at Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport. The three then rented a car and drove five hours down to Trout River, WA, at the base of Mt. Adams. Late that evening, they met up with Peter and Ben, who had driven up from Oregon, at the Cold Springs campground. Everyone enjoyed a hearty dinner, prepared by Peter, and then bedded down.  

 

Day 2

We woke up the next morning excited to be in the mountains and excited to start climbing. After breaking camp and organizing the gear among ourselves, we set out on Trail 72, the route that goes up Mt. Adams’s southern face. As we hiked along the trail, we were able to catch views of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood, which Peter, Kyle, and Brad had climbed last year. Early into the hike, we passed a Search and Rescue team bringing down an injured climber on a wheeled liter, which wordlessly reminded all of us of the importance of safety, caution, and respect for the mountain. The terrain around us gradually changed from the densely clustered trees, to scattered bushed, to thin grasses, and then to plain rock and snow.  The day’s climb ends at the top of a glacier on a flat spot called Lunch Counter. Because we were arriving on a Sunday afternoon, we found the place left almost empty, and we had our choice of rock shelters (or hovels as Peter called them). We ate, rested, and regrouped before dinner to practice using our crampons, glissading, and self-arresting. The day ended with a hearty dinner of backpacker-style Frito pies and then an early retreat to the tents for a good night’s rest.

 

Day3

Monday began at the break of dawn with everyone moving quickly and quietly around our tents as we ate a little breakfast and finished prepping our packs for the summit attempt. We gathered together at the base of the glacier on the north side of the Lunch Counter at around 6:00 AM. Crampons were strapped on, packs shouldered up, and the climbing started. The first objective in sight was Piker’s Peak. Brad said, in describing this part of the route, that “the climb up the glacier was definitely a slog. You really can’t look up at the glacier and see the distance you have to travel yet, you will never get there. Unlike work or school, you really want your mind to wander.” The team reached Piker’s Peak around 11:30 AM, rested for a few minutes, and then started off again for the true summit, another hour to go. The second part of the climb went by in a blur. With the top of Mt. Adams in sight the team quickly fell back into its pace and before long we were standing on the summit. Everyone took turns standing on top of the old, snow-filled Forest Service hut for the obligatory picture and soaked up the magnificent views of the surrounding area. Most prominent, on the northern horizon, was our next objective, Mt. Rainier. As we began our descent, Peter found, innocently lying by itself, a lonely golf ball. Its future destiny was clear to all of us. A makeshift tee was hastily made from snow, and the ball was placed on top. Peter gripped his ice axe as if it was a golf club and took a couple practice swings. Then he stepped up, adjusted his stance, and let it fly, sending the ball soaring over the edge and across the crevassed glacier below. We were able to descend our morning’s long climb in a matter of minutes as we glissaded back down to the Lunch Counter. The team rested for a couple hours and then finished the descent down to the Cold Springs campground, arriving by early evening. We spent the night at nearby Lake Takhlakh.

 

Day 4

Our time at Lake Takhlakh was spent eating, resting, enjoying the scenery, and avoiding the mosquitoes. We each set up our own tent, which filled the campground but gave each of us his own space away from the blood suckers. Peter made sure that all of us were totally refueled by preparing all the meals and then giving out extra large portions to everybody. We also took the opportunity to swim and relax in the beautiful, cool lake. This day provided a perfect break between the two climbs and gave the trip a nice sense of balance.

 

Day 5

Wednesday started leisurely with each us of waking up on his own time, eating a filling breakfast, going out for one more swim, and then taking down camp. We left Lake Takhlakh and drove to a small town where we picked up a few items at the store and fueled up the cars. Then the team headed out towards Mount Rainier National Park. Because we would be taking the Emmons/Winthrop Route to the summit, we checked in at the White River ranger station and then grabbed a spot in the White River campground. As we settled into camp, everyone unpacked their gear from the cars and then, paying special attention to weight, redundancy, and necessity, repacked everything for the summit attempt. Anxious for the next day, team gathered together in the evening for another great dinner and separated to the tents to turn in early.    

    

Another early morning for the team, we broke camp quickly, moved the cars, and then started hiking towards Glacier Basin. Sections of the trail had been washed out in a recent flood and our path led to several river rock scrambles as we tried not to lose the trail markers. We made a quick stop by the river at Glacier Basin to fill our water bottles and then moved on towards the Inter Glacier. At the foot of the glacier we roped up started climbing. The route gradually traversed over to the thin outcropping of rocks that separate the Inter and Emmons Glaciers. When we reached these rocks we climbed off the ice and found a small spot at Camp Curtis to eat and rest. But after only a few minutes the wind picked up, and the team opted to move off the ridge and continue up to advanced camp. We down climbed onto the Emmons Glacier and then took the route up another 45 minutes to Camp Schurman. The rocky tent pads at camp were scarce and windswept. After an unsuccessful attempt to set up their tent in the high winds, Joseph and Justin moved off the rock to pitch camp in the snow below. Peter found a snug spot for his bivy bag and Brad and Ben were able to get their tent up next to his site.  

 

Day 7

Friday was another rest day for the team. The early morning air was filled with the sounds of hushed voices, the crunching of snow, and tinkling hardware as rope teams made their alpine starts towards the summit. Later, as the temperatures rose, we were awoken by the crashing and booming of rock fall all up and down the mountain. We all rose out of our tents around noon and shared lunch at Peter’s bivy site. After eating, Ben led Brad, Joseph and Justin onto the glacier to review and practice placing snow and ice anchors. Then we all practiced setting up 3-point pulley systems for crevasse rescue. The session on the snow ended with Peter calling us up for an early dinner of peanut pad thai. During dinner we finished ironing out the specifics of our summit bid. Everyone retired early to their tents where they organized their gear and then went to sleep.

 

Day 8

Technically, Day 8 started at 11:00 PM on Day 7, but because we had all slept it felt like a new day. Everyone woke up before midnight, tried to eat a little food, shouldered their packs, and then gathered at Peter’s hovel. There we stood in a tight cluster, passing around a couple of cups of hot tea by the light of our headlamps, silently thinking about the climb ahead. Peter voiced our feelings of solemn reverence when he called it the “Mountaineer’s Sacrament.” With the tea finished, the team moved out of camp, roped up at the glacier, and began climbing. There is something uniquely beautiful about an alpine start. The air was still and the sky was full of stars. The view from the mountainside showed Seattle’s brilliant lights silhouetted against the dark mass of a mountain peak. Our pace quickly fell into a familiar rhythm as a line of headlamp lights stretched out along the route.

 

Personal stories/thoughts etc.???

 

At the end of the Corridor the route turned right, and we had to maneuver over a narrow rib of ice cleft on both sides by deep crevasses. From that point the route leveled off as we traversed to the northeast. The sun began to come up over the horizon, slowly at first and then it seemed as if suddenly the whole sky was lit up. The world grew from the size of a headlamp light to an entire mountainside and valley. As we approached the saddle between Liberty Ridge and the summit, we turned again and headed straight for the peak. A short time later we were standing on the crater rim. Everyone, glad to be at the top, rested for a couple minutes, taking pictures, eating and rehydrating. Then we traversed the rim to Columbia Crest where more photos were taken and ice axes raised. The air was cold and the winds, although not strong, were constant. As we walked back towards the start of our descent we saw other climbers coming up onto the peak from the DC route. We took a sitting break to rest for a few more minutes before starting down and welcomed another rope team coming up from the Emmons/Winthrop side. A little after 8:00 AM, our rope team started the descent. It was tough, slow going with the softer snow and tired legs, but we arrived back at Camp Schurman in a little under five hours. Everyone crashed for a couple hours and then broke camp, now anxious to get down off the mountain. We climbed down the Emmons Glacier, traversed over Camp Curtis, and then boot skied and glissaded down the Inter Glacier. A short hike from there brought us to our camp at Glacier Basin where we spent the night.

 

With flights to catch back up in Seattle, the team had one last early morning, waking up at 4:30 AM to hit the trail with the first rays of sunlight. After a two hour hike the team arrived back at the cars parked in the White River campground. We all loaded our gear, said our goodbyes, and headed off, one car up towards Seattle, the other down to Oregon, everyone satisfied in a successful trip.