View of Rainier from the Trail Map of Emmons Glacier Ski Route Skiing Up the River Valley Inter Glacier and the Summit Inter Glacier and White River Valley View across the Inter Glacier Emmons Glacier Panorama Traverse down to Emmons Glacier Camp Schurman Hustle and Bustle Last Rays on the Summit A Fox Invades the Camp Dawn and Crescent Moon Climbing the Emmons Corridor A Serac Ready to Fall... Climbing the Upper Emmons Glacier Seracs at the Bergschrund Traverse Below the Bergschrund Bergschrund Crossing Panorama Final Steps to the Crater Rim Rainier Summit Photo Panoramic View South from Summit Panorama of the Main Crater Skiing Down the Upper Winthrop Glacier Skiing Below Seracs on the Emmons Last Light on the Seracs Skiing Past Little Tahoma Descent of the Emmons Corridor Camp Schurman in the Morning Skiing the Lower Emmons Glacier Traverse Back to the Inter Glacier A Fine View from the Inter Glacier Skiing Down the Inter Glacier Skiing Down the Inter Glacier 2 Skiing Through Glacier Basin The Summit and the White River View of Rainier from Sunrise Zoomed View of the Climbing Route Zoomed View of Rainier from Sunrise

Since we were quite exhausted and wouldn't get to sleep until after 9 PM, we decided to leave for the summit at 4 AM the next morning, quite late compared to most climbers who leave at midnight or 1 AM. We planned to climb on foot with crampons, carrying the skis on our packs, since the snow would be too frozen to skin up comfortably. We also hoped the late start would allow the snow to soften enough for good skiing high on the summit dome. But we were in for a surprise while getting ready in the pre-dawn chill. A fox wandered through camp, visible just left of our neighbors' tents. It was probably looking for an easy snack, although it had traveled at least two miles over glaciers to get to this point!