Mountain Castle

Once again it has been awhile since I last posted. Just thought I would check-in and put a couple words and photos up about my ski trip last weekend.

I went up to Rainier last weekend and skied up to Camp Muir. Actually this is the first time I have actually skiied all the way up to Muir. Last time it was socked-in and I turned around when I couldn't tell up from down. It was absolutely beautifull on Sat. 12/10 and a little warm due to the inversion. It was 40 degrees at the parking lot and 25 down in the valleys! The ski up was fun, but surprisingly tiring. It must be old age! The ski down was fun for a little while but became a little tedious when I forgot how to ski and the snow started to become soft. The upper part of the ski was hard and a little icy with some significant sastrugi (or sun cups?) which made the skiing a little hard. On the lower section I was just tired and in a hurry to get to the car before dark and before the gate closed. The sunset was unbelievable; pink apenglow reflected off of every snowy surface!!

Anyway the time to Muir seemed slow at around 3 hr 15 min. Time down was way too slow!

With all the falls I took, the worst one was when I was clambering up the last 30 feet to Muir. I slipped on hard ice bent my pole and put a gash on my thumb. In fact my thumb still hurts. I wonder if it is broken? Anyway attached are a couple of pictures.

Boy it seems like they keep building more structures at Muir! This one photo almost looks like there is a castle on the mountain. What a sweet place this would be to have your own private castle. Preferably with a warm hearth!