 We had formed a warm friendship during our trekking and climbing in Bolivia and I think we all wanted to let our friendship continue and deepen. Garry Porter took on the daunting task of arranging permits, group coordination and organization. We had decided to do the Schurman Route as it would be less crowded. For Garry this was a little training jaunt as he was preparing to leave for Nepal and climb Everest the following month! An experienced high altitude climber who had other major Himalayan peaks to his credit, he had been invited on Wally Berg's 50th Anniversay Everest Expedition.
It was a rushed morning at the White River campground on the northeast flank of Rainier, finding spots for the cars, getting the permit squared away for all in the party, and sorting the gear that would go up. But it was also absolutely wonderful getting to see everyone again. We wanted to help Dick (the eldest of our group 78!) with his gear in order to improve his chance to summit, so my son, Chris, had graciously offered to help ferry much of the gear up to where we needed to rope up on the glacier. Chris had to return to work on Monday, which would be our summit day, but I was very excited to have him able to meet and spend a little time with everyone in this extraordinary group.
After the climb we all converged on Garry's house in Olalla (across The Narrows from Tacoma) where we met his wife Nadine and enjoyed some final comradary before going our separate ways.
--Gary
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