Another great hike in the books! Wooohooo! My adventure sister, Lidia, and I climbed Mt. St. Helens! We drove to Climber Bivouac the day before and set up camp for the night. We got up early the next morning and were on the trail by 5:15 in an effort to avoid some of the afternoon heat.
This was Lidia’s first attempt to climb St. Helens. Knowing
the way we hike together and the training we have done, I never doubted that we
would reach the summit. We agreed to take our time and just
work our way up the mountain… step by step. I knew what we were in for (rocks, boulder fields, and scree) and knew it would be a long day of hard
work... but I was confident.
Once we reached the summit, we hung out, ate lunch, and looked around in awe for quite awhile. It's so beautiful up there! There was steam coming out of the dome in the crater and rock slides along the crater walls. People could hear rocks tumbling under the ice cap on the dome - I say "people" because I personally couldn't, darn it. With all that activity going on, it crossed my mind more than a few times that we were actually standing on an active volcano! ;)
The way down was long and warm. We didn't beat the heat but the worst part of it was right before we went back into the forest below so it wasn't too bad.
Unlike my past climbs on Mt. St. Helens (and on Rainier), I did not suffer ANY thigh cramps! Wooohooo! Amazing! In fact, I trained and prepared myself for this climb so well that I didn't suffer ANY muscle soreness during or after the climb. None. I went back to work the next day as if I had stayed home on the couch instead of climbing a mountain! I'm really proud of myself!
It was a great day and another great adventure with Lidia! Life is good. :)
Once we reached the summit, we hung out, ate lunch, and looked around in awe for quite awhile. It's so beautiful up there! There was steam coming out of the dome in the crater and rock slides along the crater walls. People could hear rocks tumbling under the ice cap on the dome - I say "people" because I personally couldn't, darn it. With all that activity going on, it crossed my mind more than a few times that we were actually standing on an active volcano! ;)
The way down was long and warm. We didn't beat the heat but the worst part of it was right before we went back into the forest below so it wasn't too bad.
Unlike my past climbs on Mt. St. Helens (and on Rainier), I did not suffer ANY thigh cramps! Wooohooo! Amazing! In fact, I trained and prepared myself for this climb so well that I didn't suffer ANY muscle soreness during or after the climb. None. I went back to work the next day as if I had stayed home on the couch instead of climbing a mountain! I'm really proud of myself!
It was a great day and another great adventure with Lidia! Life is good. :)
