The Pull of the Kautz

Each year, the opportunity to climb the Kautz Glacier route on Mt Rainier is an event I look forward to with much anticipation.  From the National Park Road to Paradise, where most climbs begin, the Kautz Ice Chute stands out in prominent relief from the rest of the broad, south side of the mountain.  If you’re paying attention on the drive up, this route is one of the first features you’ll see.  After you know it’s there, it is hard to let go.

 

On the way to high camp on the Kautz Glacier route

Two approach days put us in position high above the crowds.  Climbers enter the ice chute at first light and the real fun begins.  Ice tools sink with satisfying security into the chute’s bare, hard surface.  Upward progress is slow, focus is directed inward and extends not much beyond arm’s length.  Until the sun lights up the valleys below, and taps you on the shoulder.  Hazy summer conditions mean layers of mountains extend forever.   Mount Adams, Hood, St. Helens.  Jefferson on a clear day.  The volcanoes southward in the Cascade chain are frosted with the pink of sunrise.  It is morning up high.  And it is good to be climbing.

  

First light and alpenglow on Mt Hood and the valleys below

Climbers topping out on the Kautz ice chute, with Mt Adams beyond

Finishing the ice chute, there’s still work to be done navigating real, big glaciers before stepping foot on the summit.  Tired, sleepy, hungry, elated.  It doesn’t matter, it always seems worth it for those moments that stick around long after we’re home.  

Up above

With the summer guiding season in full swing, I've spent some wonderful mornings up above it all.  There is nothing quite like this feeling, short of gazing out the window of an airplane.  But here there are no windows.  Just the wind, the snow and the light.  The photo below was from a perfect morning on Mt Rainier.

On the Cover

The American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) selected my photograph of a fellow guide at high camp on the Kautz Glacier route on Mt Rainier as the First Place winner in their Wilderness photo contest last fall.    The photo is on the cover of their quarterly newsletter, the GUIDE Bulletin, for Winter 2015.  

The camp is located at 13,000 ft and overlooks the southern Cascades.   The clouds were beautiful that day, and after all the guiding chores were finished, everyone was able to relax a bit and take in the scene.  This is one of my favorite camps on the mountain, and I wanted to capture the feeling of sitting out in the sun with the vast expanses of the mountains below and the sky above.