Late summer ski on Mt

		Late summer ski on Mt. Rainier
We hiked into Glacier meadows and got our first look at the Inter Glacier quite a formidable sight. You can see the climbers tracks in the snow here in this picture.		My friend John and I have been planning this trip for almost a year now and it didn't look like we were going to partake in doing it. Well the weather held long enough and we packed up our skis and snowboards and headed off to the mountain. It's nice not to sit in the car two hours before a hard physical exercise so we decided to head up the night before. We left Wednesday night at about 10:30 pm and found a camp site in the dark. The next morning we drove the short distance to the White River camp ground and parked the car. The hike into Glacier Meadows was long but easy. Nice wide path without the normal northwest obstacles to get around like slippery roots and large mud puddles that are common on most of these trails. We arrived at the base of the Inter Glacier at 11 am had some lunch and I broke out the mole skin for my poor tender feet. We started the climb at around noon and the snow had just started to soften nicely. Looked like a nice ski so far.
	Here is my fearless leader John blazing the path up the Glacier. The climb started at about 5500 ft if I'm not mistaken.
I had to stop and take a picture over my shoulder... I love it at this elevation the landscape looks so different from sea level where I spend most of my time.
	This was our only real hazard, a crevasse that was approximately 10ft at it's widest point. John is poised in the fore ground.