Alpine climbing in the warm and sunny (!) Northwest
Years ago, when I was interviewing as an apprentice guide out in the North Cascades and Rainier, a senior guide summed it up well- ' ya know, there's not big glaciers out here because it's sunny every day.' I laughed. Cynical but true- and something I've shared w/ guests many times over the years on trips in the North Cascades and Alaska Range.
Coming from the Adirondacks though, I've never been too worried about cold and wet- we can handle that no problem. But the ace in the hole in the Pacific Northwest is the frequent summertime high pressure that can dominate for weeks at a time and turn the rocky summits and vast gaciers into a sublime, dazzling alpine paradise. And that certainly was the case this year. While the Northeast has seen record cool and wet, the Northwest has experienced record sun and warmth.
I spent the last two weeks guiding the annual Cascades alpine climbing trip with my friends at Alpine Endeavors from down in the Gunks. Fellow AE guide Ryan Stefiuk and I, along with our guests Richard, Alex, Bill, David, Keith and Elee were blessed with good weather and record high temps. We sweated hard on the hot approaches and endured some ferocious bugs in the humidity, but once up high on the glaciers we reaped the benefits of clear weather and had great succesful climbs of Eldorado and Dorado Needle up on the vast Inspiration Glacier, Mt. Shuksan's sublime rocky summit pyramid and Mt. Rainier's classic Emmon's Glacier. Thanks to all for a great trip!
