In July 2011 I climbed Mt. St. Helens and in August 2011 I summited Mt. Adams. Here's a recap of the experience.
Mt. St. Helens
Climbing Mount Saint Helens requires a permit, and I was lucky enough to find a group that had one available. Passes are hard to come by, especially for a weekend climb, and they have to be purchased well in advance. I deliberated a lot over equipment , up until this point I had only done day trail hikes. Ice axe? Gaiters? Crampons? I'd never heard of these things before. I didn't even have shoes, I ended up borrowing my sister's hiking boots. The shoes were the most important - they were waterproof, sturdy and got the job done. I did also rent an ice axe, which was useful for the descent. I wore many layers of clothing, all which came in handy at different points in the hike. I had shorts, a tank top, a short-sleeved and long-sleeved t-shirt, winter ski jacket (without the inner lining), long track pants, ski gloves (essential) and sunglasses (also essential to avoid burning your eyeballs).
The climb is 5 miles to the top, 10 miles round trip. There's a 4500 ft elevation gain. We started at the trailhead, Climber’s Bivouac.
The group in the parking lot, at the beginning of the hike
The first 2 miles is fairly easy, climbing through forests and open meadows on relatively flat dirt trails. After coming out of the woods, we hit the real start of the climb.
The trail ascends to Monitor Ridge, and gets more difficult from there. We started to climb through boulder fields, which took us up another 2500 feet.
The last section of trail was a climb through ash and small rocks to the crater rim. The views started to become amazing.
But there is nothing like the scene at the top. It was absolutely incredible, nothing I'd ever seen before. From that height you can see Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and Mount Ranier as well as the huge crater of Mount St. Helens. It was an absolutely perfect day, so the sight was breathtaking. At the top of the mountain, I realized I was experiencing a moment I would never forget. It was unbelievable, the pictures don't do it justice.
Eventually, we had to head down. That part was also awesome, since there was enough snow for us to "glissade" (essentially slide on your butt) down to the bottom. There are paths carved out by previous people, so it's super easy and really fun. The ice axe helped steer, and control the speed of the slide.
The ski gloves were a necessity. The descent in the snow would have been miserable without them. Rain pants are also extremely useful. I didn't have them so my ass got soaked within the first 30 seconds sliding down after which it became freezing cold and painful to slide on. I couldn't sit comfortably in the snow without the cold and wet seeping in. At the bottom my feet were swimming in a pool of water inside my hiking boots. This was because the snow had crept in, and the shoes are so effectively waterproof, the water was trapped inside. Gaiters apparently help keep the water out... but I didn't have them.
After the hike we went out to pizza and beer at the Goose Hollow Inn, in Portland. A pretty awesome finish to an amazing day.
Mt Adams
