Nature's Playgrounds: Camp Muir

Sarah and I were looking to do a conditioner to prep for our upcoming trips to Mt. Baker. Camp Muir with almost 5,000 ft of elevation, mostly on snow, definitely fit the bill. This was my first time up to Muir and there were a few things that surprised me. First, you can see your destination for a good majority of the climb and although it looks pretty close, it still took quite a while to get to. Second, my body does not like transitioning to altitudes above 9,500 ft. I was feeling great then all of a sudden it started to hit me and it was like I was hiking in jello--everything just felt sluggish. Lastly, people do some terrifying things with their ice axes. I saw every crazy thing you could imagine including people holding their pick facing toward their stomachs, people glissading with their ice axes about to stab their thigh the moment they hit a bump and small children running and flailing with axes. I was certain I was going to have to use my WFA skills at any moment. Luckily we and everyone else on the mountain made it home in one piece.