About six weeks ago, I announced my big objective for 2026 – Mount Logan in the Yukon, the second highest mountain in North America and highest in Canada. This will be a massive undertaking and will require an immense amount of preparation and training, including completing 2-3 intermediate objectives. The first of these objectives was a return to the beautiful Cascade range in the Pacific Northwest to climb Mount Rainier, the highest mountain in Washington and the 5th highest in the USA, outside Alaska.
Standing at around 4320 meters (14400 feet), Rainier is a challenging mountaineering objective and is the most glaciated peak in the USA outside of Alaska, and is very popular, with around 10,000 people attempting the summit each year. It is also an active volcano (on the Decade Volcano list), and regularly experiences small earthquakes, often unnoticeable at the surface – there actually was a “swarm” (cluster in quick succession) of small earthquakes shortly after our trip.
This was my first visit to the USA since the Alpine Club of Canada Toronto Section’s Adirondacks trip in February, a very long hiatus for me personally (a personal choice due to tensions between Canada and the USA). However, a trip to Rainier specifically was important as the Logan expedition leader, Bryan Thompson, was using this trip to evaluate several (eventually reduced to just one) expedition members at higher altitudes combined with technical glacier travel in preparation for the main expedition. So why didn’t we stay domestic? No such peak (that is also easily accessible) exists in Canada – only three (Mount Fairweather, Mount Quincy Adams, and Mount Waddington) 4000+ meter peaks are present outside the territories and they are all in the extremely remote northern parts of British Columbia. Coincidentally, Bryan had previously made two attempts at Waddington – both re-enactments – and was foiled both times by the treacherous approach and tricky climbing conditions. So obviously the best choice for an objective was Rainier. The trip was mainly for re-enactment team members, but I asked if I could join as Rainier is a peak I was keen on climbing; I have a fair amount of experience at higher elevations (Whitney, Humphreys, and Orizaba) in my resume but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to climb in the Cascades again (I had done some non technical climbs way back in the fall of 2019 in Oregon – that trip was one of the catalysts which got me into alpinism). It would also be a chance to practice a lot of technical skills which are always rusty given my current home location in Toronto.
Once the team (Bryan, myself, and Mehmet) decided on our general plans/itinerary in late May, I went ahead and booked my flights. As I had a credit from the aborted Columbia trip with Porter Airlines, I opted to fly with them and use the credit to save money in the short term (given I am still frustratingly looking for work). However, I would need to fly into Vancouver as Porter does not fly to Seattle. This would allow me to visit family in the Vancouver area after the climb and carpool with Bryan, who was also flying into Vancouver. The downside is that vehicle border crossings are a bit tougher nowadays than airline border crossings, so we accounted for a longer than normal wait at the border.
in addition, as we planned this trip a bit late, we also arranged our itinerary to arrive several days before the July 4th long weekend, and planned to arrive at the ranger station extremely early in the morning to obtain permits. Our route would be the Emmons Glacier Route, the second most popular route on the mountain, yet nowhere near as busy as the Disappointment Cleaver Route. The plan was to spend several days on Rainier working up in elevation and getting some technical skills practice, as a large section of the route would be glaciated.
Day 1 – Travel and the First of Many Speed Bumps
My flight to Vancouver was very early in the morning, so I made triple sure I had everything (including my brand new passport, which I had to rush to renew with a month to go until the trip). My flight was at 7am so unfortunately I needed to take an Uber to the airport, as the UP Express first arrived at YYZ at 6am, which was cutting it too close. I had no issues checking in and getting on my flight, and got a bit of work done on the plane and at the gate.
Upon arriving in Vancouver, I had a couple of hours to wait for Bryan’s flight to arrive, so I got more work done near the baggage carousels. Eventually, Bryan arrived and he mentioned the rental car was booked pretty last minute but he was able to get one. The problem? It was a 15 minute SkyTrain + walk away from the airport, so we opted to take an Uber. Once we arrived at the car rental place, we encountered another problem – Bryan was using a company credit card (he doesn’t have one of his own) and there was not enough credit available to pay for the rental as well as put down a deposit. I could use my card, but technically that would require me to be added as a second driver which would add to the cost of the rental. Luckily we were able to charge the deposit to my card and get rid of the second driver cost, and we were on our way.
I learned a lot about Bryan on this trip, and I quickly found out on our drive down to Seattle to pick up Mehmet that he seemed to always forget the car keys in the car, so I was responsible for “babysitting” him in civilization and holding onto the car keys. This is despite the fact that he would be in charge on Rainier which I repeatedly teased him about. He also dislikes coffee and had to stop a couple times for a Red Bull. The border crossing was surprisingly quick and we made our way south.
We had to make quite a few stops en route to Rainier. We had to pick up Mehmet, who was waiting at a mall near the Seattle airport (Bryan recommended that as Mehmet is Turkish-Canadian, it would be better from a border crossing perspective for him to fly into the US direct rather than cross a land border.. such is life…), buy our groceries for the trip, and pick up a few camp/climbing things including white gas, which would be required for the stoves we’d be using on the mountain. Bryan was bringing a replica antique stove (Optimus Svea) which he wanted to test out as he planned for the re-enactment team to use them on the Logan expedition.
We visited the REI in downtown Seattle, and it took 10 minutes to find the entrance of the building (we joked that it would be the crux of the trip) but unfortunately they didn’t stock white gas as there was concern regarding the quantity of it and the functionality of the sprinkler system in the building. We hopped across the road to another outdoor store, which also, crazily, didn’t have white gas. We picked up an additional picket so we each would have one on the mountain – I ended up paying for it (Bryan was on the phone dealing with an issue with work back home) and figured I might as well keep it as it would be useful for future trips.
We grabbed Mehmet at the mall and had dinner there, and paid our annual Rainier climbing fees (a requirement on top of the actual permits) before heading to Walmart to pick up food. Luckily, Bryan was able to buy white gas here and we were finally on our way to Mount Rainier National Park. Our next challenge would be to find a place to camp for the night, ideally close to the ranger station so we’d be able to line up first thing in the morning to grab our permits. Luckily there were a lot of options along the way, and we settled on Camp Dalles. When we arrived, we found out from the camp warden that we had to pay in cash, of which we had none, but she was a sweetheart and let us camp for free. Bryan insisted we would drop by on our way out to give her cash. I also had to remind Bryan to take diamox, not the first time on the trip this would happen.
Day 2 – Glacier Basin Camp, a Major Speed Bump
An early start for our first full day on the mountain – we packed up quickly in the morning and were at the visitor center bright and early at 6:45am, 45 minutes before they opened. I took this opportunity to repack my bag and have some peanut butter wraps for breakfast, and we were first in line to grab our permits. The conditions for the next few days looked great, both in terms of wind, cloud/fog, and precipitation, all things that can present challenges on Mount Rainier. We then drove up to the parking area and set off on the trail.
The first day involved hiking about 5 1/2 kilometers to Glacier Basin, a camping area situated at about 1780 meters and involving a straightforward approach which gained about 460 meters from the trailhead. This hike was surprisingly difficult owing to my pack weight, which had to be around 60 pounds. This included water and camp fuel, along with personal climbing and camping gear as well as food. My pack was pretty uncomfortable but realized partway through that I hadn’t tightened some straps properly, so it got better fit-wise from then on. We got some great views of the mountain along the way and it was a pretty mild, clear day. I also observed on this hike that Mehmet did not have his ice axe strapped to his pack like Bryan and I had. I thought nothing of it, assuming it was inside his pack. More on that later…
We arrived at Glacier Basin very early, around lunchtime, so we had lots of options for sites to choose from and time to settle in. We picked a site that was shaded all day – no sense in baking in the sun at this point when we would be getting tons of sun exposure later in the expedition. After setting up and exploring the area, including the food storage bin (there was a bear sow and cub in the area) and the privy, we made our way down to the stream to cool off and collect water.
I was pretty behind on sleep that afternoon so I ended up taking a pretty long nap, and overheard Bryan struggling to figure out how to light his stove. He ended up figuring it out eventually.
That evening I saw Bryan and Mehmet in a pretty intense conversation and walked over, and to my horror, it was revealed that Mehmet did not have a mountaineering axe with him. He had gotten confused at our last Zoom meeting, where Bryan had mentioned that there was no need to bring an ice climbing tool, but Mehmet misinterpreted him. Mehmet suggested he could do the climb without an axe, which Bryan flatly rejected. Our trip was already in jeopardy. It was quickly decided that Bryan would go to the closest REI in Tacoma to buy one for Mehmet, the problem being he would not be able to get to the store before it closed that evening. He would thus return in the early afternoon the next day after going to REI first thing when it opened the next day. This would likely set us back half a day or so, but it should have been fine given we had a buffer day worked into our schedule. More on that later…
After Bryan took off down the trail (and us ensuring he had the car keys with him!) Mehmet gave me a quick review on knots, specifically double/triple fisherman for prussik cord, as well as tying prussiks onto the main rope and the alpine butterfly, all knots I had learned before but had forgotten since I don’t climb regularly. Very helpful!
Day 3 – Bryan Returns with an Axe and a New Problem
It was a bit of a slower start to the day as we were still waiting on Bryan. Luckily we had cell coverage at Glacier Basin so we were able to keep in touch and he was on track to grab the axe at REI, along with a few other things like hand sanitizer (I always forget this on trips). We got our packs packed as well as Bryan’s well in advance, as he was expecting to return to camp around 2pm and he wanted to leave immediately. While checking out the privy I ran into some bear poop and a bear tracks, confirming that mom and baby were around. I never saw them though, but did see quite a few marmots. I also spoke with a volunteer ranger (Alex) who suggested a few options in the event Bryan couldn’t make it back with enough time to get to our next camp at Camp Schurman.
Bryan finally returned around 3pm. From camp I saw him a bit down the trail but not moving, so I walked down and caught him and Mehmet planning a prank on me. Mehmet was wearing Bryan’s day pack and he was going to tell me that Bryan left the keys in the car! Thankfully the prank never materialized though it would’ve been funny in hindsight. The reason Bryan was late was twofold. Firstly, he had actually bumped into Alex as she was heading down and arranged to switch our night’s camp spot to be at the bottom of Inter Glacier, about 1.5km up the trail from Glacier Basin.
The second reason was not quite as pleasant. It turned out Bryan had picked up a gastrointestinal issue and was struggling with nausea and diarrhea. Another possible trip ender if his condition did not improve. We quickly got going up the trail and it was a short one hour hike to the toe of the Inter Glacier, gaining only about 200 meters of elevation. We found a good spot and set up our tents.
This was a pretty sweet spot, with running water and great views. To Bryan’s delight, I was able to cook my lentil/pasta/veggie soup meal on his antique stove. Bryan also demonstrated some more prussik cord technique for self rescue from crevasses and had me read a few pages from “Mountaineering – Freedom of the Hills” on his phone before bed.
Day 4 – A Gruelling Climb to Camp Schurman
Unfortunately, Bryan was not feeling any better the next day but he was able to push onward to our next camp at Camp Schurman. After a quick breakfast and packing up camp, we were on our way and immediately travelling on the lower Inter Glacier.
It started off with a pretty mellow grade before getting a fair amount steeper. Not nearly as steep as the snow slope I climbed on Mount Whitney. Mehmet and I took turns kicking steps to follow (making short switchbacks) while Bryan lagged behind, struggling to hold everything in on top of carrying a heavy pack. Mehmet and I had taken on some of Bryan’s load for this part of the climb to make his life easier but it was clear that our progress would be slower than planned. There were a few water sources along the way and we saw a couple climbers glissading down the Inter Glacier – something to look forward to on the way back down!
This was probably the hardest day of the trip, just a relentless climb up softening snow, carrying very heavy packs. After what seemed like forever, we finally crested the top of the glacier and arrived at another intermediate (and official) camp, Camp Curtis, where we took quite a bit of time resting. Bryan contemplated using the “facilities” up here (which technically is not allowed) but a lot of other climbers were passing through so he decided to tough it out until Camp Schurman, which was about a kilometer away. We saw a couple people with skis strapped to their packs make their way up (how they could hike in ski boots, I’ll never know) and also a random guy in jeans, sneakers and a light jacket, carrying a visitor’s map, which was astounding. Hopefully was not a SAR event…
To get to Camp Schurman from here, we had to descend a loose moraine slope, which was especially dicey for Bryan, to the Emmons Glacier, which would be used to access the upper reaches of Rainier on summit day. It was here we roped up as the Emmons is heavily crevassed, before plodding along up a gentle slope to the camp. We made it after seven hours and a lot of suffering by Bryan, and immediately got to work setting up camp.
We flattened out areas on the snow for tents and Bryan set up a cooking area. This would be our home for the next few days. It was decided that we would try and go for the summit that evening despite being a bit behind our planned schedule (we were supposed to have arrived at Schurman the day before and spent the current day practicing glacier travel skills). It was a bit worrisome given Bryan’s condition but we went to bed around 6pm and hoped for the best.
Day 5 – Rest and Skills Practice Day
As you can see from the title, we did not end up going to the summit that night. In fact, we didn’t leave camp at all. Bryan was just not feeling it, and it was definitely a good call. It was still a bit depressing seeing the people we had arrived at camp with leaving for the summit, but at least that meant we could get some extra rest (especially Bryan). So we all went back to bed and I didn’t get up until 9am.
The day was pretty quiet as most of the climbers at camp were either making their summit bid or were packing up to go down. I spent most of the day relaxing in my tent, staying hydrated (we were melting snow like crazy with the stoves for drinking water) and enjoying the views. Towards the afternoon, Bryan mentioned he was feeling a lot better, and his diarrhea was subsiding, so we would be making our summit attempt that evening. Because we were now very behind schedule, this would make our last couple days a bit interesting. Mehmet was due to fly out in three days, the summit would require a whole day, and we would need to get back to Vancouver to return the rental car at noon the day before Mehmet’s departure.
The good news is that the route conditions were looking great, though there was quite a bit of concern with the freezing level on the mountain. Ideally we would ascend through the night where the snow firms up, and try and descend as soon as possible to minimize our time spent on the rapidly warming snow. There was a report from the rangers that the morning would feature a freezing level around 14000 feet, which would suggest soft conditions to start, which would not be ideal. We thus planned to go to bed at 5pm, wake up at 11pm, and start for the summit at midnight. That afternoon we also spent some time reviewing anchors and self arrest (mainly for my benefit) and making sure we were good to go first thing in the morning.
Day 6 – Finally Summit Day?
After a very restless night (sunset was at 9pm and my tent is super bright inside) we were up and ready to go at 11pm. We were delayed starting due to the stove refusing to boil water quickly (we eventually gave up and took the almost-boiled water anyway) and were finally away at 12:45am. Luckily the freezing conditions report was wrong and the snow was very firm even at camp, which would make for perfect conditions for climbing in crampons.
About 10 minutes in, just after passing a smaller camp just above (Emmons Flats) Bryan turned to Mehmet and I and admitted that he was feeling very weak (after battling his illness) and he would not be able to make it to the summit. Thankfully though, we had Mehmet who has tons of mountaineering experience, along with the excellent route conditions, so it was decided that Bryan alone would turn back and Mehmet and I would push on as a duo. It was a bit emotional leaving Bryan, but we were resolved to make it to the summit for him. After a quick rope systems switch (including me taking on some additional coils as well as putting knots in the rope to assist with friction in the event of a fall), Mehmet and I set off alone just after 1am.
I haven’t really mentioned much about the altitude at this point, because I really wasn’t feeling any effects. Granted, Camp Schurman is at about 2900 meters and I typically feel the altitude above 3000 meters, however with the Diamox and gradual ascent of the last few days I was feeling good and strong as we plodded upwards at a slow, but steady pace. Mehmet did a great job leading and we made excellent time up the Emmons, gradually gaining ground on a large group of eight climbers who had left 45 minutes before us. We took a few breaks along the way and made sure to stay hydrated, and passed a number of wicked looking crevasses that could easily have swallowed vehicles, let alone people. Eventually the sun rose around 5am and it was a beautiful sight. At this point, I knew that Mehmet and I would reach the summit of Mount Rainier.
We eventually caught up to the large group (The Glacier Gals) at about 4000 meters and our pace slowed as it was unsafe to pass them. It was here we encountered quite a bit of powder snow and also a couple sections with very high exposure (sheer drop on the right side) but not too much of a challenge. Eventually the trail widened out a bit and I noticed we were way off the route that was displayed in my OnX Backcountry app. As we passed the Glacier Gals, I asked the two rope leaders what was going on and they said the route gradually changes over the climbing season, so perhaps the route in OnX was an earlier season line? I also asked how far we were and they said 700 feet to go. I jokingly asked if that was horizontal and we all laughed as they had clearly meant 700 feet of vertical.
Eventually we reached a very flat area, likely the west crater (Rainier has two main summit craters that are partially overlapping) and we could see that we had one final climb up a slope to the upper (east) crater and the summit. The Glacier Gals along with a couple skiers caught up with us and we all worked our way up together, finally arriving just below Columbia Crest.
Columbia Crest, an ice cap along the rim of the east glacier, has long been considered the summit of Mount Rainier. However, due to recent surveying, it has been verified that due to the recession of the ice (likely due to climate change), the ice cap has shrunk sufficiently (about 22 feet since 1998) to no longer be the highest point on the mountain. The highest point is now a couple hundred meters to the south, a rocky section on the southwest part of the rim of the east glacier. In 2024, Eric Gilbertson surveyed and documented these two locations and confirmed that Columbia Crest was at 14,389.2 feet (4316.8 meters), while the southwest rim stands at 14,399.6 feet (4319.9 meters), ten feet or three meters higher. This difference can obviously vary a bit due to snow accumulation.
We dropped some gear including the rope and crampons and clambered our way up a section of the rim which used to feature a USGS monument some years ago. Just to the south was Columbia Crest along with an area further south with a crowd, which was certainly the southwest rim. I checked out the Crest before making my way along the rim to the summit, which had a summit register, so it appears that this is confirmed to be the accepted true summit of Mount Rainier.
Amazing views at the summit! To the south, we could see Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, as well as Mount Hood (I initially thought it was Mount Jefferson, but that’s too far south) way in the distance, along with Mount Baker to the north. The crater was spectacular and there were climbers making their way across having climbed the Disappointment Cleaver route. The new summit actually makes the DC route a bit shorter and the Emmons route a bit longer, but not by much. I later learned that there are ice caves and tunnels (carved out by the geothermal heat) and an alpine lake under the snow and ice in the craters on Rainier, which was super interesting to read about.
We spent about two hours at the summit. Mehmet and I had a pretty intense discussion about when to leave – Mehmet wanted to take a nap and depart at 10am (which was our original turn around time) while I was concerned about the softening snow and potential for collapsing snow bridges across crevasses. I eventually was able to bargain with him for starting back to our gear at 9:30am. After donning our crampons and roping up, along with a bit of confusion with one of our pickets (the Glacier Gals had mistakenly taken it and left theirs behind), we were finally on the move at 10am.
The descent was faster than the climb up, bit still very slow and laborious owing to fatigue and snow instability. Every step had to be taken with care and there was a lot of slippage in the snow. My knees started to act up partway down and we took extra special care as the descent is usually where accidents and injuries happen. After what felt like forever, we finally reached the final snowfield down to camp, and took a solid break. This final descent was brutal – I tweaked my ankle and tripped over my crampons a couple times (probably should have removed them) and the snow was in terrible condition. Unfortunately we could not glissade this section, as there was still potential for crevasse danger.
We finally arrived back at camp around 1pm, after a 13 hour effort. It was quite a relief to finally be able to rest, and I could not wait to take off my boots. Bryan welcomed us back with some strong electrolytes in water, and I dunked my feet in the cold snow. I thought I was experiencing a blister in my big toe with about 2000 feet of drop to go, but it turned out to thankfully be just a hot spot. I resolved to tape my toe for the hike down to the trailhead. It should be noted that Mehmet and I were the first climbers on a Bryan-run trip to have made the summit of Mount Rainier. Bryan’s two previous trips were foiled by altitude sickness, including Bryan short roping his buddy (who was suffering from pulmonary edema) down the Emmons back to Camp Schurman. Despite not Bryan making the summit he was very happy with the result!
We had a brief discussion as to when we would get back to the car. The rental was due in Vancouver at noon the next day, and we technically could have made that if we left immediately (either straight to the car or camping at Glacier Basin) but Mehmet and I were not keen on doing much more hiking that day (let alone with heavy packs) so we decided to leave camp early the next day and extend the rental until later in the evening. It was a pretty early evening, suffice to say, after a very successful and satisfying day.
Day 7 – A Super Fun Descent
Sleep was pretty rough (at this point I was very sticky and gross) and ended up waking up an hour earlier than our planned 5am alarm and just listened to some music until it was time to get up. My tent was surprisingly dry thanks to the freezing conditions along with the footprint, so I was glad to not have to dry it out later. We were off and said goodbye to Camp Schurman just after 7am.
The crux of the return trip was climbing up the loose moraine slope back to Camp Curtis. I initially elected to stow my poles and axe so both my hands were free, but the loose terrain made me change my mind and take out my axe. While doing so, my water bottle fell out and luckily Bryan was behind to catch it. It was a relief to make it to the top and after chatting with some climbers who were camping at Camp Curtis, we donned our gortex pants and gaiters to prepare to glissade down the Inter Glacier. Luckily for those climbers, Camp Curtis was quite nice to them – Bryan had previously lost a tent and cook set at that same spot due to high winds.
The glissade down the Inter Glacier, which would amount to about a third of our vertical for the day at just over 500 meters, was super fun, and far less stressful and dangerous than my previous misadventures on Mount Whitney. The snow was just soft enough to not be too fast, but not too soft that it was easy to keep control. I still played it pretty conservatively and used my axe to check my speed the whole way down. Super fun and I joked at the bottom: “Let’s do that again!!”
We finally were able to grab fresh flowing water, and walked down the last bit of the glacier via plunge stepping, passing by our previous campsite and retracing our steps back to Glacier Basin. My legs felt surprisingly good at this point, though I was careful to watch my footing as there were some steeper dirt sections as well as rocks to avoid. After filling water at Glacier Basin, we took a short rest where I taped my other big toe which was acting up (this seems to only happen in my Nepal Evo boots on descents) and Bryan called the car rental place. Sadly, they charged us a full extra day even though we planned to return the car only 8-9 hours later than originally planned. As it turned out, 8-9 hours was way too conservative of an estimate, more on that soon..
The final hike down to the trailhead was solid and we made great time. After only around 4 1/2 hours from leaving Camp Schurman, we were done. We celebrated by sharing a chocolate bar I had intended to share on the summit – Mehmet was delighted to see I was finally sharing food/snacks (to be fair, most of my food was not shareable, save some Sour Patch Kids). Unfortunately, we had a bit of a wait to pack up the car as Bryan was forced to park in a pull-out 2km down the road as a result of the ice axe snafu. He dropped his pack, we ensured he had the car keys (of course) and waited for him to return. We packed up and headed out, leaving our extra white gas as well as some cash as promised to the camp warden at Camp Dalles (she was not on duty, sadly), before enjoying some phenomenal Mexican food in Enumclaw.
More misadventures on the way back to Vancouver. After dropping off Mehmet at a hotel near Seattle airport, Bryan had to pick up an authentic 1920’s style sleeping bag for the re-enactment team for Mount Logan. The problem is we had to go to Bainbridge Island, which required a long drive or a short ferry trip. We opted for the ferry, which was grotesquely delayed much to our chagrin, which ended up delaying us from getting to the car rental place until 11:30pm (we obviously elected to not take the ferry back). It was nice to stretch a bit on the ferry and see a bit more of Washington. I was picked up by my uncle who lives in Burnaby and spent the next couple days with him, my aunt and their dog before returning to Toronto.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was a highly successful trip. We overcame many challenges, adapted to tough situations, and were rewarded for our patience with 2/3 of us making the summit. It sucks that Bryan couldn’t make it, but this was the first time anyone from one of his Rainier trips (three to date) summitted, so he was very happy overall.
This was also a great taste of what is to come – Mount Logan will require long periods of time camping on snow and ice, and we will surely experience plenty of challenges along the way. It also gave me a great idea of what I need to work on. Personally, I felt strong fitness-wise (though I think I could have done more heavier pack training, though to be fair I was battling some minor injuries in the months leading up to the climb which I adjusted well to) but sorely lacking in the technical skills department, namely ropes, knots, glacier travel, and crevasse rescue. I plan to spend quite a bit of time the rest of the summer and fall doing more outdoor rock climbing with Bryan and others from the ACC to reinforce these skills so they’re second nature. Of the six of us on the Logan team, I am the youngest and by far the least experienced, so I have a lot of work to do. I’m confident with the objectives I’m hoping to do along with other training close to home in the next year I can get there.
Huge thanks to the two guys for making this trip so successful. Mehmet for leading us to the summit and offering advice and suggestions, and especially Bryan for organizing this trip, his advice and coaching, as well as sacrificing himself to get us to the top (both by descending to buy an ice axe as well as turning around on summit day so Mehmet and I could ascend quicker). In addition, I would be remiss to say that Bryan is an excellent road trip buddy and thank you for all the laughs! I’m really looking forward to continuing to learn from these two gentlemen and the rest of the Logan team moving forward. 🙂
Veg 'n' Alpine 