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Last week Ben Haskel and I guided Dave, Staci, Amir, and Rob on Mt Rainier via the Kautz Glacier Route.  After a very wet Sunday the weather started to clear and we had a fantastic climb and descent.  Our itinerary looked something like:

Sunday, 17 July:  Cross the Nisqually Glacier and ascend the Wilson Ramp onto the Wilson Glacier.  Camped at 8400'.

Monday, 18 July:  Continue up the Wilson Glacier to the Turtle Snowfield, and camped at 11,200'.

Tuesday, 19 July:  An alpine start saw us traversing onto the Kautz Glacier, where a steep ramp was zig-zagged up to the summit dome, where we crossed the West Crater to the true summit.  Descending was pretty straightforward, and after a windy nap in camp we elected to drop down to 9200' for our last night - it was much less windy and more comfortable!

Wednesday, 20 July:  A pretty uneventful descent down the Wilson Glacier, across the Nisqually glacier, and back to Paradise led us to burgers, beer and pizza at Whittakers in Ashford.

Reaching the Nisqually Glacier from Paradise.

Crossing the Nisqually Glacier as the weather threatens.

Committing to the Wilson Ramp.

Looking up at the Kautz Glacier from Camp 2 at 11200'.

Descending from Camp 2 to a quieter camp at the Castle.

Dave and Staci are all grins as we descend the Wilson Glacier.
Statistics:  Pro Guiding Service, 17-21 July.  Mt Rainier, 14,411'.  The Kautz Glacier Route, 20 miles and 10,000' feet elevation climbed and descended.