** This hike to Camp Muir was part of a larger summit attempt on Mount Rainier. **

I started the hike on Monday, July 5th at 9:30am with a group of 12 (4 guides, 8 clients including myself) with International Mountain Guides. Their format was to hike steadily for an hour and take a 15-minute break as a group, then repeat. We followed this regimen without fail and it worked nicely with a larger group.

The weather was gorgeous. It was a cloudless, sunny day. The snow was slushier than normal with more rock exposure than is typical this early in July.

We arrived at “Cloud Camp” – the original name for Camp Muir – around 2:30pm. It wasn't this day, but on the descent two days later I could see why it's named cloud camp, as it sits just above where the clouds roll in and you can see rolling white waves for miles.

Overall, it was a refreshing time to hike with people I just met over a snowfield I hadn't climbed in over a year.

I love this hike, this mountain, the view. It always feels hard, but even more, I feel like I'm on top of the world.