Ok, so one more day of waiting in Seattle. Brian and I took the opportunity to visit the headquarters of both REI and MSR (one a large american outdoor retailer, and the other a major manufacturer of high-end outdoor gear). Happily, I managed to get a new piezoelectric starter for my stove (the old one had worn out).
Back at Rosty's place, we took advantage of the downtime to go over some basic glacier travel setup and crevasse rescue techniques. Brian had not had time to practice before leaving on the trip.
courtesy BConnell
Another look at the forecast. It was a reconfirmation of yesterday: today's bad weather was on the way out; tomorrow would be somewhat wet but trending towards the dry. Friday was forecast to clear out by mid-day, and Saturday and Sunday were forecast to be completely clear - at ALL elevations. If we left tomorrow - even if it meant initially being out in some potentially bad weather, then by the time Saturday rolled around, we would be in position at a high camp near Glacier Peak, ready to make our summit attempt with good weather. We had a plan.
We spent the evening sorting through our stuff, making go/no-go piles, then packing our backpacks. Tomorrow - Thursday, July 18. Glacier Peak Day 1 : Confirmed, locked, loaded - whatever euphemism you wished to use.... we were going.
