Emily Nuchols, our champion for the Snake River sockeye salmon that, she notes, “travels further and climbs higher than any other salmon in the world,” has sent two glimpses of the conditions at Camp Muir, at 10,000 feet, which is the jumping-off place for most early morning attempts on Mt. Rainier.  Throughout August we posted photographs from Wallingford that looked in the direction, at least, of Mt. Rainier from a corner that was a few houses from Emily’s – at the beginning of the month. We did it in support and anticipation of her climb scheduled for August 25-26.  During the month she moved to Portland, perhaps to be nearer those wild sockeye, for Emily is the communications manager for “Save Our Wild Salmon.”   (You can find and/or review that daily Mt. Rainier watch in the archive of this blog, as well as other pictures of Emily and some of her supporters.)

The two snapshots included here show, above, Emily with her climbing team – she is behind the red section of their banner – and, below, Emily alone with the wind and the Cowlitz Glacier.  Emily explains. “When we left Camp Muir at 2 a.m. and started our first traverse across the Cowlitz Glacier the wind was blowing so hard we had to brace ourselves with our ice axes at each step.”   In the dark the Salmon team made it over that ridge behind them – Cathedral Rocks – and beyond that over Ingraham Glazier as well and then onto the rock cleaver so appropriately named  “Dissapointment” for so many.  There, still in the night with flashlights (on their heads I assume) and 60 mph winds pushing against them, the guides put a stop to it, and turned the team around.  Still their effort raised $20,000 for Save Our Wild Salmon.  Our congratulations to the Salmon for having friends like Emily and her team.  And our apologies to the Salmon, for they are still for eating.