Walking the Miles ...: Mt. St. Helens Climb

It was another great climb up Mount St. Helens! Woohoo!! Today I summited this mountain for the third time! I’m so darn proud of myself!

Lidia and I hit the trail at 4:00 a.m. after not sleeping much at all the night before. At the trailhead campground people are up and about all night long, coming and going, talking, laughing and playing music. This was my third time to stay overnight at this campground and each time it has been the same so next time (did I just say that?!) it might just be better to get some sleep at home and drive to the trailhead in the middle of the night.

It was dark, cold and quiet when we started hiking. As I was walking behind Lidia with no vision except for the small area illuminated by my headlamp, I was thinking to myself how I normally don’t like the dark but yet today it felt peaceful and comforting. I was relaxed and thinking positively about the climb ahead of me. I was actually enjoying the darkness and the peace it provided.

When we reached the tree line – where the real climbing begins – it was light enough to see without aid. I felt great and was ready to face the day. As awesome as being on the summit for the sunrise would be, I honestly wouldn’t want to hike past the tree line in the dark. The boulders are tricky and there is no real path up them. As long as you see a wooden pole up ahead of you, you’re going in the right direction. I can’t imagine trying to find those poles in the dark. But people do it.

As we were climbing, we hiked through and above the cloud layer. Up above it was sunny and beautiful… cold and windy too! It was amazing to see the massive blanket of clouds below us and nothing else but the blue sky, the sun and three other mountains - Adams, Hood and Rainier. We were tiny specks out there in a great big, endless world.

Climbing up and over the boulders is work and takes time but I enjoy it for some strange reason. I’m completely “in the moment” and don’t think of anything except how to get over or around the rock right there in front of me. The boulder fields are a huge part of climbing St. Helens. There were times we were able to get on the snow to avoid some of them but obviously icy snow on a steep incline comes with its own set of challenges. I much preferred the solid footing I had on the boulders.

Above the boulders is the scree section. It is steep (really, what part isn’t?) and it’s like trying to climb up a huge, never-ending sand dune. It wears me out… quickly. I ended up counting steps to keep myself moving… 24 and then stop… 24 and then stop… and I eventually took it down to 10 steps between stops. Ugh. Definitely not my favorite part of the mountain. While in the scree I have constant chatter going on in my head – I’m tired. I don’t like this. Why am I here? but even with all of that negativity, I know I will make it to the summit because this is the last section of the climb and I’m almost there. (I would crawl on my hands and knees if I had to!) In order to stop the negative mental dialog today, I started to sing! Yep… out loud! haha I can’t carry a tune and never sing in front of anyone but today… today it happened!

♪♫♫♫♪♫♫♫♪♪♪

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy

When skies are gray

You'll never know, dear

How much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

♪♪♪♪♫♫♫♪♫♫♫

And it worked!! I started laughing, changed my thoughts and I powered right up that mountain! Slowly still… haha … but dang it, I got there!

We spent an hour at the summit soaking it all in and feeling very proud of ourselves. We aren’t mountaineers and climbing this mountain doesn’t come easily for us but we train for it, push ourselves and accomplish what we set out to do. Lidia wasn’t feeling well today and I was moving at a turtle’s pace so as a result, it took us 6 hours to reach the summit and over 4 hours to get back down. Climbing down the boulders is rougher than climbing up them and requires a lot more caution. The first time I climbed this mountain I was afraid of the boulders (I struggle with balance) and came down every single one of them backwards, using my hands and feet exactly the same way I went up them. My guides from that first trip would be very happy to know that it’s no longer “my technique” and I can come down them on two feet. I’m stronger and more confident in my ability, which makes a huge difference. Coming down is certainly faster facing forward.

Once we got off of the knee-banging boulders and hit the tree line, it was the longest (but sweetest) 2 miles back to the trailhead ever documented. It was an awesome, AWESOME DAY!