The approach to the Eldorado Glacier via Eldorado Creek starts off of Cascade River Road at 2100'. It is invariably described any and everywhere as grueling (grade IV). Two words about that matter:

It
and
Is.

We knew the climbing would be technically easy (alpine II), involving class 3 scrambling, moderate glacier travel, a possibility of low class 5 gully climbing to gain the ridge, and a spectacularly steep and exposed finish along a fabled snow summit ridge.

The crux is getting there.

We took a bivy sack each and the lightest bags we own, light rain gear, food for two and a half days, 12 oz. of fuel, stove, rope, glacier gear, a small set of stoppers and hexes, axes each, crampons, and a "whatever, dude" attitude. I brought my new Wild Things EP jacket (1.8oz. fill) as my only piece of insulation; Brett had a bit of fleece.

The guidebooks peg Eldorado as a 2-3 day climb, though from high camp the [climbing] day is very short (once you get there). Brett thought it would be a good idea to try to get up to 5200'-5600' the first night (Friday), to try to cut as much of the approach out as possible. It was the first in a long line of suggestions turned decisions that ultimately proved to be crucial. I had my reservations about having enough gas in the tank to get it done after flying all day, but I figured I'd give it a shot. After a bit of tomfoolery finding the correct creek crossing, we were underway at 6pm. The approach to the first bivy sites is only 1.3 miles, but climbs a minimum of 3100' in that distance. It is s t e e p .

That's Brett up above. Yes, he smokes. A lot. Hence the nickname. It's frightening to think what kind of shape he might be in if he didn't. Brett was coming off a harsh, week-long bug involving various antibotics and lots of bed rest. I felt bad about him getting out like this, but secretly hoped that, in his dilapidated condition, that I might have half a chance of keeping up with him, for once (Brett and I had climbed Mt. Hood and recently Mt. Rainier together). All hopes were dashed once we hit the trail. To give you an idea of the guy's mettle, here's some sample approach talk:

Me: Think there's water up there? [huff-puff]
Brett: Hope so. [puff-puff]
Me: Think we have enough fuel to boil it?
Brett: Should be good to drink.
Me: You're not afraid of giardia?
Brett: Nah. Having had it, I can tell you it's not as bad as people make it out to be.