We meet at the picnic tables under a little tent (it's raining . . . hasn't stopped since I arrived in Washington). I get my first look at who will be climbing up the mountain with me. "Oh great, I'm the only woman and the second oldest!!" I'm starting to get worried. We meet our lead guide, Joel. He looks at the pants I'm wearing (fleece) and asks if I have any gortex. I change my pants. I guess I was trying to fool myself. It's raining down here in Ashford and the clouds are hanging very low. It's not going to be sunny on the mountain and it's probably going to be a wet day! (I hate rain and cold.)
Oh my gosh!!! Day 1 on Mt. Rainier. We take a shuttle from Ashford to Paradise (5420') and gather in a little cold concrete building and do our final preparations before heading out on our training hike. We are told to put on our avalanche transceivers. I'm thinking "what! are we really going to need these things on the trip?!" There's a bunch of fresh new snow and it's still coming down. I guess it's a good idea to have the avalanche transceiver on. It's cold and damp and we're still inside the building. (I really don't want to go out.)We hike for an hour+ in drizzly, snowy, wet wet snow. As we hike, we sink knee to hip deep in the snow. We can't see much at all. At about 6600' we stop and drop our packs. We spend the rest of the day here learning different techniques we'll need for our climb.
We were out there for 4 hours!!! . . . learning how to walk in our crampons (first learning how to put them on), learning how to "self arrest" with our ice axe . . . here's a pro demonstrating the technique . . . 
. . . learning how to use our Avalanche Transceiver - finding each other buried in the snow. We also practice walking, clipped to a rope. As the day goes on, I become more and more nervous that I have made a terrible mistake. "How will I survive in such a cold, wet environment, carrying a big pack on my back - up a very steep mountain??" But I'm still very much intrigued about how this whole trip will play out and what will happen, what adventures we will have. And of course "I'm having fun!". Really!!!
As we sit in a circle in the wet snow, each person on the team introduces themselves. Joel is our lead guide from RMI. He just finished helping a team up Denali. This past January he was in Patagonia climbing and then took a group up Aconcagua. Katy is our other guide. Very perky and loves to climb and all the outdoors. The team consists of Tim & Robert from Pittsburgh/Buffalo. They climbed the Muir route last year & Tim made it to the top, but Robert was turned back because of problems with his crampons. Dave & Read are buddies from Dallas. They've never climbed before but do a lot of backpacking and skiing. Anders is originally from Sweden and came to the US to learn how to fly. He's now a pilot for Southwest Airlines. Last year he climbed the Muir route with his girlfriend. He didn't make it to the top either. Pete is from Castlerock, CO and has hiked a ton of 14ers in Colorado and Mt. Hood. And last but not least is Ken from Orange County. He's hiked a lot of his many years and just finished climbing Mt. Whitney this past February. And then there's me . . . hmmm, "what experience do I have"? (Let's see . . . I live where it's cold and we have some snow.) Not much that has anything to do with climbing a mountain with glaciers!!!
Am I really smiling? Do I look happy? Or am I scared? I think the word is "clueless"!!
After hiking back down the mountain, we stop in at the visitor center at Paradise. We take a look at the map of the mountain. It doesn't look so bad. Obviously I don't have a clue . . .
We drive back down to Ashford. I'm glad to be off the mountain. It really scared me. "How am I going to stay warm for 4 days on the mountain?" I'm worried about the clothes I brought and that I have the wrong things. On the ride back to Ashford, I talk to Katy and find out exactly what I need. The problem is that I know I'll get real warm as I hike and as soon as we stop I'll freeze. How do I hike without sweating. One of the tricks I was told is when you start off hiking, you better be cold - not warm. I learned that I needed to take off two layers.
I check into my room at Whittakers and go through the stuff I brought and figure out what I'll need. Turns out I won't be taking a lot of this stuff along with me . . . 
Gaiters, fleece jacket, rain jacket, rain pants . . .
