Mt. Rainier
Führer Finger

"The Finger" is supposed to be the most direct route to the summit of Rainier. This may be true, but it is still a long, strenuous climb. There are two approaches to the route...You can head up the Wilson Gulley as if you were climbing the Kautz Glacier Route, or you can do as we did; climb the glacier directly toward the Finger. Route finding may be difficult on the direct route later in the year and The Finger itself is prone to avalanche and rockfall. You will encounter many crevasses large and small if you opt for the direct approach to The Finger.







(Click bordered images for larger format.)


Unfortunately, the only picture I have climbing the Finger itself is this one. My overmitt or something blew in front of the lens at the crucial moment. After a long, hard, hot climb, we finally made it to the summit. It's Mt. Adams in the distance, as always. Pictured are Ellie, Brian Sperry, Me, and Tim King. Tim was successful on his first four attempts at Rainier!

We descended the Kautz Glacier route and found the Ice Chute to be in very bad shape. It was sunset by the time we arrived at Camp Hazard so, we decided to bivy. We were packing bivy sacks but no sleeping bags. Well, most of us had bivy sacks. I volunteered to test out the Snow Leopard pack as bivy sack thing...This photo was taken the following morning, and the look on my face (right) sums up my opinion of the Snow Leopard as bivy. I don't recommend it!


(left) Finally down after our bivy at Camp Hazard...We were about to have an adventure at the restaurant that looks like a railroad car. Tim was to find about 30 hairs of varying descriptions in his cheesburger...


Trip Report on Führer Finger