For Derek’s 20th birthday, we headed out to Tamanos peak in the Mt Rainer National Park. Erika joined Derek, Jim, and I.
We started up the trail on nice switch backs. When we hit the upper basin it was full of snow and we quickly lost the trail. Following my gps. We headed off through the trees. Soon we dropped to the lake and head to the nearby arm which was our climbing route.
We put on helmets and gave Erika a quick ice axe lesson. The hillside was not overly steep so the ice axe were mostly used as walking canes. Surprisingly, Erika did the entire snow climb in tee shoes.
At the top of the snow, we transitioned onto the rock. Did a little class 3 scrambling and then headed out on a ridge run.
We ended the day with a view of Mt Rainer and birthday cake on the summit. Exactly the day Derek asked for.
