Walking the Miles ...: Mount St. Helens via the Worm Flows (winter) Route

The day to climb Mount St. Helens finally arrived! Woohoo! We were hoping all the way up until the night before that the summer climbing route (Monitor Ridge) would open up but no such luck. There was simply still too much snow on the roadway up to the trailhead. The winter route was our only option. The winter route is longer (it starts lower) and therefore has more elevation gain. I attempted this route three years ago and did not make it. I quit. I could see the summit but still had almost 1000 feet to climb. That may not sound like much but in the slushy, wet snow (it was a very hot day!) when you're exhausted... it's forever. So with that in the back of my mind, I was not horribly upset by having to do the winter route because I really needed to redeem myself! This was David's first attempt at the mountain and I really, really wanted him to experience the elation of such an accomplishment! We were going to make it to the summit!

We planned to hit the trail by 3:30 a.m. to avoid slushy snow (if it got warm out... that didn't happen!) but when we got up it was pouring down rain. We sat in the cabin hoping to wait it out; find a window of opportunity with better weather. The winter route starts at Marble Mountain Sno Park which is at approximately 2650 feet. We hit the trail at 5:00 a.m. when it was just sprinkling - much better than the downpour an hour and a half earlier. We knew we would hit the snow/freezing level around 6000 feet and the goal was to stay as dry as possible before then. You can't climb a mountain with wet clothes in the snow zone!

We took a lot of pictures and videos of our great adventure!

We put on extra rain gear in hopes of staying dry.

Chocolate Falls - Elevation ~ 4800 feet

Barely a view of the mountain right in front of us.

At this point we had already added or removed layers three times. It had been POURING rain. I was worried we would not make it if we didn't get a break in the weather soon.

Above the clouds and into the snow! We were finally above the rain. David's shirt was wet and my collar and cuffs were wet so we changed into dry shirts before climbing further up.

David aka Mr. Sunshine - We're halfway there!

Me - Ugh.

I cannot say how many times we stopped to add clothing or take it off. A lot! The weather was all over the place. One minute we were freezing in the blowing snow and the next minute we were hot in the blazing sun. Literally... the weather changed by the minute!

We thought maybe that was the summit up there but we were wrong. Still a long ways to go.

We were climbing over boulders up here and one time the step was too large for me to take. I put one knee up on the rock in front of me and when bringing up the other leg I hit my thigh against the crampon on my other foot. It was a quick sting. I looked down and there was the smallest hole in my pants leg. Okay... keep going. I started walking and felt something running down my leg. Yep, I had cut my thigh. I yelled out to David to wait up and said I probably needed a band-aid. (Probably... right!) We sat down and when I pulled my pants leg up it was obvious I had done some damage. It was a gash and it was hanging open. Eek! Yikes! I poured water on it, cleaned it up as much as possible, bandaged it, and put duct tape over the whole thing. No little gash was going to stop me! I was "almost" there! Carry on! :)

My last push up to the summit.

I was stopping about every 15 steps at this point. The weather was terrible and I was exhausted.

My favorite video of them all!

WE MADE IT!!

Happy Summit Faces!

Mean Monster Razor Teeth!

A little summit rest was in order before going back down, which is a completely different kind of monster than climbing up. The sun was in and out and it actually felt warm up there although it was just below freezing. No doubt we got a little sunburned here... in addition to the burn we were already showing!

The cornice on the rim of the crater.

David was so excited to glissade! :)

There really wasn't much opportunity to do so because most of the time we couldn't see very far in front of us to safely do it. Hitting a rock under the snow could be pretty darn painful, if not disastrous.

Halfway down and I was ready to be done.

There was a small little trip-and-fall in this area in which I rolled down the slope and hit the side of my head on a boulder. I was lucky it wasn't anything major. I sat there on the ground thanking my lucky stars while Mr. Sunshine removed my crampons and made sure there were no stars spinning around inside my head!

This was not my finest hour (or day) of climbing but I was proud! The winter route did not win this time... although it put up a really good fight! ;) Whatever. I made it!

The tree line was in view. Yeah!

Right before we went back into the trees we saw the most beautiful double rainbow. It felt like a gift at the end of a very long and grueling day.

After entering the forest right below Chocolate Falls it is another two miles before reaching the trailhead (just like on the summer route). It was again the "longest 2 miles ever." It felt like 5!

I wanted a donkey to come pack me out of there. Where are the donkeys when you need them??

Exhausted, beat up, and sunburned but oh so proud and happy!

2020 Hike 26/52

12 miles; 5700 feet of elevation gain

IT WAS ANOTHER AWESOME ADVENTURE!

THE AFTERMATH

After my little mishap of gashing my thigh, I hiked the rest of the way to the summit and then all the way back down. It hurt but I wasn't really suffering. The next day I had to work (from home, thankfully) and in the afternoon I decided a trip to Urgent Care was a must. By the time I saw the doctor, the wound had been open for over 24 hours. Doc said I needed stitches but they don't sew up a cut after being open that long because of the high risk for infection. Steri-strips to loosely close it and heavy duty antibiotics were prescribed.

My battle scar would be wide, he said.

I don't care! I made it up the winter route! Woohoo!, she said. haha

THE OTHER 'INJURY'

I had the worst sunburn in my life! (stupid, stupid, stupid) My face and lips swelled up so large that I thought my skin would burst! Yes, we used sunscreen. No, we did not reapply as often as we should have. The weather was crazy. Most of the burn no doubt came from the glare on the snow. Not only did I have to use a straw to drink my coffee for the next few days, I could barely walk or sleep! The small area of skin showing after I rolled my pants legs up burned much, much worse than my face (I never thought to put sunscreen on my legs). They blistered badly. My sunburn hurt a lot worse than my gaping gash! Lesson definitely learned from this experience - I will BATHE in sunscreen for the rest of my life!

"The mountain really roughed you up, mom! But I'm so proud of you!" (my son)

Oh yes... yes, it most certainly did! But I'm beaming with pride!

(Just don't make me smile right now. It hurts too much.)