Ouch...that is about all I have to say. There had to be at least four times when I questioned wheather I would make it or not. This is me at the summit of Mt. St. Helens (8,365ft). When I first got to what I THOUGHT would be the summit...I had to sit down for 20-minutes to collect my thoughts and question my manhood. I then did this three more times.
Yes, before you ask, that is a beer. I thought it to be an artistically genious moment to have a Rainier at the summit of St. Helens while looking at Mt. Rainier.
We took the Monitor Ridge route... http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/mount-st-helens/climbing-routes.shtml. As if we needed more of a work out...we had to start at the Marble Mtn. Sno-Park. This added 3-miles round trip, and 1000ft in elevation.
This is some of us at the tree line...probably only 1-1/2 hours into it. We couldn't see the mountain yet...it was still socked in by the clouds.
Hiking on some rocks next to a river gully...just short of the waterfall.
Me at the waterfall...
Mt. Adams in the distance...
All of us at the geological station....close to half-way up. You can see Mt. Hood in the distance. If your eyes are really good...you may be able to see Mt. Shasta...or Mt. Bachelor. I'm not sure which it is...
The last 800-1000 vertical feet....if you don't know what it is like, try walking up something as steep as a ladder....in ash and loose rock, and a little bit of snow just to make it interesting. I quit questioning my manhood at this point...knowing that if I didn't make it now I would never hear the end of it.
The six out of seven of us that made the summit (with Mt. Adams in the distance). I will say this...Alan didn't make it only because he ate some bad fish the day before and left it on the mountain well over half-way up.
Mt. Rainier, Spirit Lake, and the lava dome. This picture doesn't do it justice tough...it is far more impressive in person.
My personal favorite...Artistic genious if you ask me. Yes, that is Mt. Rainier behind the Rainier beer can.
12
4 years ago
