From Left to Right: Alvin (Bessie's husband), Morten (Angela's husband), Bessie (cousin), Mary (cousin), Angela (sister), Lawrence (Mary's husband), Jackie (friend), Me, and Bong (friend).
Ang, Morten and I tagged along on my cousins’ annual Memorial Day Weekend snow camping trip at Mount Rainier last week. We hiked up to Goat Island Peak at Mount Rainier National Park on Saturday and spent the night before coming back down on Sunday. These are some of the things I learned from the trip:
Sidenote: Why do they call it Goat Island if it’s not an island?
- If you’re planning on sleeping on snow, make sure you bring a thick foam pad in addition to a sleeping pad. I was FREEZING and woke up about a dozen times because of the cold. The only upside to this was that when I woke up in the middle of the night, I got to see the stars which I would’ve missed otherwise.
- Never hike up a mountain alone unless you know what you’re doing.
- Never try to hike down a steep mountain early in the morning because the snow will have turned to ice overnight. If you must climb down, wear clamps and bring an ice pick.
- Climbing down a mountain takes about 1/3 of the time it takes to climb up.
- When climbing up, dig your toes in. When climbing down, dig your heels in.
- Foxes are unlikely to attack you, but coyotes will consider it (they’re crazy like that). On our way down a large furry coyote crossed our path.
- Always bring at least two extra pairs of socks.
- “Mountain money” = toilet paper.
- Spam musubi makes a great hiking snack because you don’t have to worry about squishing it in your pack.
- Baby wipes are AWESOME!
- If you end up needing a ranger rescue in the US as a result of your own stupidity, you’re going to have to pay for it out of your own pocket.
- Levelling your sleeping area is important if you don’t want to be sliding around in your sleeping bag at night.
- Sliding down an icy mountain head first will give you lacerations on your face. Not recommended.
