Neel's crazy life

Our group of 3, started at the Heliotrope Trailhead, it was at least 32F, so a little nippy :) The plan was to enjoy a leisurely hike up, then evaluate the climbers route to get to the Hogback campsite. The weather was perfect, we reached the waterfalls, which was partly frozen over, but looked gorgeous. Going the climbers routes, poles, spikes were the minimum. Eventually, reaching the Hogsback campsite, we proceeded to pitch 3 tents. Enjoying the view Gotta stay warm! My home for the night   After setting up the tents, sunset approached quickly! So we got our cooking area setup and started to melt snow for dinner. After some good food, and fireball whiskey to warm us up, we saw an amazing moonrise, with the sunset. I stayed up to take a few night photos. Skiers coming down at night With less than 5mph winds, it was perfect conditions, ...

I was told about this hike almost a year ago by Jorrel, and we have been salivating over doing this ever since! Sunday Oct 7, 2018,   was our day, a cool group of friends, none of us did this through hike this before, we started in the dark and ending in the dark, 16 hours of hiking. Starting from Stuart Lake trailhead, and leaving a vehicle at the Snow Lakes trailhead. Hiking up to Colchuck in the dark is really fun, its not a difficult hike and seeing Colchuck Lake at daybreak is a treat ! Seeing Colchuck lake and Aasgard Pass with sprinkling of fresh snow was surreal. After a quick snack and pics, we continued to the base of Aasgard pass, the boulders along the lake were really slippery! At Aasgard, we mustered up the courage, put on spikes, and kicked into gear, getting up Aasgard in 2h14min with a few breaks for views and pics, I dont think it was a difficult climb, as I am a pretty slow, but a constant paced hiker. ...

So this year for my birthday I decided to attempt to climb Mt Rainier. For my non Seattle friends, this mountain stands at 14410 feet is the  is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A. I thought it would be a unique experience to share in, and here in Seattle those activities are very accessible. I booked this climb last year in September with a guiding company as I had no mountaineering experience and wanted a glimpse into this fascinating world. I have been training for this for the past 9 months, weighing in at 103pounds and training with 35 to 45 pounds on my back, this was a fun challenge. Pre-dinner meal On Wednesday morning 9.30am, we started our ascent to camp Muir one of the base camps. Our group reached base camp at 2.30pm, about 5 and half hours of hiking with heavy packs. I loved the fun banter, making new friends and that feeling of the unknown, We rested, ate dinner, and slept at 6pm to wake at 11pm so we could start the summit climb at 12am.  ...

After spending months training, this includes physical conditioning, as well mountaineering skills with the Mountaineers, I decided to put these to the test and try a climb. After signing up on the climb, the weather started to change drastically, I constantly watched the conditions a week before, and knew this was not the ideal conditions I had hoped for. Carefully, evaluating my gear I started packing, laying out everything on my lounge floor. Climbing Essentials Food, clothing misc all packed After a 2 hour drive from Seattle, we arrived at the trailhead, met my companions, and started the hike up Heliotrope Ridge. Even though the weather was not ideal ( wind and rain ) the hike was beautiful Finally after a couple of leisurely hours, we arrived, setup camp and started to settle in. The wind was really blowing, waking at 12.45am, I almost quit and thought I am good to sleep the night a...