mount rainier

i accidentally climbed mount rainier this week.  

and to my surprise, i summited a second time.  the photo above is on august 2nd, 2012.  the photo below is july 2nd, 2011 - just 13 months earlier.  i've since acquired better climbing clothes!

anyhoo, this climb was not planned.  in fact, last year, i had promised myself that i would NEVER climb mount rainier again.  it was the HARDEST physical thing i have ever done, without a doubt.  and i felt that i never needed the challenge again.  

but on monday, when the invitation was sent by some friends in my mountaineers course, i almost couldn't pass up the opportunity.  in order to pass my basic climbing course, i have to complete one glacier climb this summer.  there are numerous climbs i could have done - easier climbs, less intense, less risky (on mountains in washington people have never heard of).  but every attempt i made previously this summer had been cancelled due to weather.  so, i felt like this was my only chance to pass my class AND to do so with people i trust and enjoy.

in what may be the MOST spontaneous thing i have ever done, i signed up on monday at 9AM while at work and within 48 hours, i began the grueling ascent of the mountain i have come to respect and admire.

i cannot say i enjoyed the entire experience.  climbing mount rainier is hard.  i did it in three days this time, instead of four.  and we took a different route, because last year's route was too melted and riddled with impassable crevasses.  the winthrop glacier, that we took instead, turned out to be more challenging than i ever expected.  at times we crawled on all fours, using our ice axes to slither across snow bridges and crevasses.  no joke - at one point, i had to JUMP over a crevasse so big i would have been swallowed up by ice had i not successfully crossed. 

my anxiety, my stamina, my determination - all were tested on this mountain.  i cannot say that i was positive the entire time.  i cannot promise that i didn't want to turn back.  i cannot tell you that i did not cry.  but i can say, i am crazy proud of my second summit.  i am amazed by my spontaneity.  and i am impressed by the changes i have made within myself in one year.  i am still the same height, but i think i may have stood a bit taller on top of rainier this year compared to last.