"The route takes a direct line with many possibilities."

That was the fortune cookie-like summary of the Emmons Glacier route on Mount Rainier on Tuesday morning when we signed in at the White River ranger station. "Your lucky numbers are: 14, 27 and 53" I quipped. A direct line with few crevasses that would only grow in size as winter's snows melted from the glacier was why I had signed up for a June ascent of the mountain. A direct line was good, but "many possibilities"? Did that refer strictly to the route? Or was it commentary on the less stable weather at this time of year, or our individual fortunes in reaching the summit?

Still pondering what "many possibilities" might mean, I finished packing my bag and finding a place to attach a shovel and snow pickets. With everyone ready, we crossed paths with the Wonderland Trail that encircled Mount Rainier, and headed toward Glacier Basin.

I fell in behind Jason, our lead guide, and picked his brain about climbing in Bolivia, Alaska and other spots in the Cascades. The trail quickly was buried in patches of snow until the snow free sections disappeared altogether. We were rapidly passed by a few unburdened day hikers, and some burdened, but still moving quickly, ski mountaineers.

Regardless, we proceeded on to the last sheltered campsites in the basin. The two Matt's and I set to deciphering the tent pole puzzle. Another mystery presented itself with when we tried to attach the tent's fly. Finally, the snow was trampled down and our tent was erected and staked down in the direction we wanted.

Jason and John (the assistant guide and former climbing ranger on Mt Rainier) called us over to review snow travel and ice axe arrests on a slope near camp. With that out of the way, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and drinking plenty of water. John attempted to patch a new hole in his thermarest mattress. After he'd bragged about the volume of food he'd brought along, including a block of cheese and a salami, I had to ask if the cheese was sharp cheddar. After John confirmed that it was indeed "extra sharp cheddar", I knew we had a culprit for the hole in his mattress.

John's next mission for the day was to dig out a toilet buried under the snow nearby. Most of us took turns working with the two shovels we'd brought up, but even after evacuating a nine-foot deep hole, we still couldn't locate the toilet. Enthusiasm for the project evaporated even while John was convinced we only had the expand the hole a bit to uncover the toilet.

Clouds rolled in and obscured our view of Liberty Cap, one of Rainier's summits, but not the tallest. After an early dinner we retired with a goal of waking up early and ascending on still-frozen snow up to Camp Schurman, some 4,000 feet above.