The next morning we head out to breakfast at the
only place that is open and we order our food at about 7:15am. The time is
important as our waitress informs us at 7:30am that our order will take to long
if we need to be back at RMI at 8am. We all find this quite amusing and change
our orders to a lighter fare and are on our way.
We arrive at Rainier BaseCamp dressed for
hiking, packed with our Mountaineering Day School gear, and ready to go at 8:15
a.m. This is when we meet our other two guides:
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Eryka and Tim offer final packing and clothing
suggestions. We depart BaseCamp immediately following our initial morning
preparation. Transportation was provided between BaseCamp and Paradise in a
private shuttle. The entire day is spent training on the lower snow slopes of
Mt. Rainier, just above Paradise between 6,000 and 6,600 feet.
 
Mountaineering Day School offers an
overview of various techniques which help meet the challenges set forth by this
climb. Eryka and Tim were excellent teachers relaying this information in an
easy to understand manner. We were introduced to a number of skills, from the
basic techniques of efficient mountain travel (rest-stepping and pressure
breathing) through cramponing, roped travel, and ice axe arrest practices. At
first we were all pretty uncomfortable with these new techniques but with the
help of Eryka and Tim we all agreed that we felt more comfortable by days end.
Rest-stepping and pressure breathing ended up be
life savers and the key to making the summit. We spent all day learning skills
that we'd later use during the climb.
                      
We then hike back down
to Paradise jump in the shuttle and head back to RMI to find Mountain Fest in
full swing. We grab some food, beers and a table to take it all in. The first
band was a folk group that had a 30+ minute song dedicated to warm American
lager. Up next was a one man cover band who was blind and also brought
his two hairless cats on stage with him. You might have to read that part again.
Yes, your read that correctly and no I didn't make it up. It was a one man
cover band who was blind that also had two hairless cats (not playing
instruments). As strange as this sounds the guy could play. Even though he
never played "Freebird".
We then opted to stop drinking beers
and head home for some sleep as we had our climb to camp Muir looming in our
minds.
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