This has been a month of exposure to Mt. St. Helens. We summited the mountain last Thursday was Lisa, Taylor, and my dad. It was really hard work. Little Jasper was quite a trooper. He barely complained, except for a few little meltdowns. We had him in the ergo carrier for almost ten hours. The whole last half up the mountain, Rob had him zipped up inside his windbreaker since it was so windy and cold on top. Poor little fellow. He probably felt like we had stuffed him back into the womb. The mountain was incredible, though. All the ash and lava rock were pretty cool. The first third of the hike you are in beautiful, woodland forest. The second third, you scramble up boulders of volcanic rock. The last third, you trek through the scree stuff ( a mix of little rocks and ash) which is REALLY hard! The last third took more time than the first two combined. We kinda feel like we were walking up a very large sand dune. The top was sort of clouded over but it still was amazing to be standing on the crater rim and looking down into a freshly blown out volcano. I highly recommend this hike to anyone in good physical shape and who loves a good mountain challenge.
Embarking
Woodland forest
Point at which hiking permits are required, where you leave the forest and begin scrambling
My dad
My dad on the snow with Rob
My dad
My dad on the snow with Rob
4 comments:
Your description of hiking the last third of the trip reminded me something fierce of a hiking trip I got to do on the mission: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fogo%2C_Cape_Verde. I knew I was out of shape by that point in the mission - hiking the volcano rubbed it in. A million times worth the trip, though!
Great photos and description, Sara! Love you!
Beatiful! Mark and I did that years ago when we were first married...makes me want to go back.
No picture of Jasper in the ergo carrier?
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