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Intermediate Alpine Climb – Disappointment Cleaver Route

Successful June summit of Mt.Rainier via the DC route. Camped at camp Muir for 3 nights with 1 rest day. Route was well marked by the bootpack and wands. Minimal crevasse danger with 1 solid snow bridge. No ladders.

Ryan Dong Ryan Dong
June 30, 2025
  • Road suitable for all vehicles

  • The route up to camp muir was pretty much mostly snow. Snow started on the summer trail about 50 yards out of Paradise, followed by sections of rock/dirt. Once you approach pebble creek at around the 2.1 mile mark and the start of the Muir snow field, that was the last place of running water. The Muir snow field was pretty straight forward even without a solid bootpack. Use your GPS device for navigation as the bootpack was all spread out and there was no wands. 

    The DC route from camp Muir was also very straight forward. The bootpack was solid, almost a trench at some places. The route was also wanded the entire way up to the summit by the guides. We encountered some rock fall when passing by the "bowling alley" and the "ice box" on the descent. The DC itself is all melted out, easy route finding, and an easy scramble. The route above the DC is very well marked. No ladders needed to be setup yet, with most snow bridges being very solid and large. Large crevasse openings can be seen surrounding the route. There were some fixed lines and running pros setup by the guides. 

Parking conditions: terrible, like going to Costco on a Sunday

Campsite and permits: we originally only had permits to camp on the muir snowfield but we obtained walk up permits on the first day we arrived for camp Muir. We were happy to hear the ranger said they got plenty of them. We arrived on a Wednesday. 

Camp Muir: Wednesday and Thursday saw little foot traffic. The public shelter was about a little over half full of people in the afternoons. By Friday night, everything was filled up and Saturday about 20 tents were setup around camp. Bathrooms were working, rangers checked in with everyone around 5:30pm. No running water at Camp Muir. 

Wildlife: big fat Marmots that are not afraid to get close

Elevation: (FYI) Most sources will say about 4500' gain for both the approach and the summit day; however, with my watch, I ended up with over 5000' gain for both days. 

I recommend doing this route on the weekday. The camp and the route will be much less crowded. We made the summit push Friday morning and encounter ~8 rope teams with 3 already turning around by the cleaver. Above the cleaver, we encountered several more teams and didn't have to stop for traffic. After seeing how many people were at camp by Friday night/Saturday morning, I can't imagine how much more time you have to alot yourself for the summit push.