Taking the Easy Way Down

Me & Tera at the top of Mt. St. Helens.

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  I left you on Friday with the account of the difficult (and kind of scary) 5 hour hike up Mt. St. Helens. After re-fueling at the top and discussing our strategy for the upcoming descent, we geared back up and started our trek down.

  We knew footing would be difficult on the way down the mountain, with the ash, pumice, and then boulders. And even though it was mid-July, there was still a fair amount of snow on the mountain. This actually ended up working to our advantage. While discussing our strategy, we briefly tossed around the idea of glasading down where we could. Glasading is essentially sliding down on the snow. It would obviously be much easier on our legs, and much more fun than walking (or falling) down the mountain. But we were a little unsure. We weren't sure how much control we would have, and how safe it would be (since it was so far into the summer, and the melt was was progressing in the warm sun).

Sliding down the ash. Not too fun.

  So we played it safe to start off. We stumbled and slid down the ash for about 30 minutes. Sure it was kinda fun, but the idea of falling face first into ash and pumice wasn't my idea of a good time (not to mention that my quads and calves were going to give out on me at any moment). Finally when we got to an area where the snow was sufficient, we tried out glasading. Everyone in the group quickly realized this would be a much more efficient way to descend the mountain. We weren't prepared to do any glasading that afternoon, but none of us had any problems just sitting on the snow and sliding. It made for a cold and numb ride down, but I think they pay off was well worth it!! :)

  Once we all made the decision to slide down the mountain on our rear-ends, the trip down became much more fun. It was *kinda* like sledding, but not quite. You know how tiring getting up and down off of the snow is, right? Now imagine doing that after already hiking for five-plus hours! But my biggest concern, falling down into ash or rocks, was taken care of. Face-planting into snow (albeit crunchy/a tad-hard snow) was much more pleasant than falling into rocks, in my opinion. :)  So I was much happier with our game-plan.

Giving glasading a shot!

  Even by taking the 'easy way', our climb down took almost four hours. By the time we got back to the tree line, I was done. Both mentally and physically. I got my iPod out, stuck my headphones in, and was in my own world for the last hour or so.

  It was a pretty amazing hike. Yeah, it was tough. But I am certainly glad I made the commitment to do it. Climbing Mt. St. Helens might not be something I'd jump at the chance to do AGAIN, but it is something I'd suggest to the adventurous type (who wants a major challenge)!

You can kind of see the ridge you have to follow on the hike

  If you DO decide to climb Mt. St. Helens, I also suggest that you do it with as great a group as I did it with.  There were about 12 of us (including 10 bad ass chicks), ranging in ages from early-20s to 58! We stuck together (for the most part). And although we all had our fair share of complaints, there was usually a joke not too far behind. We knew what we had set out to do, and we were going to finish it. No matter how long it took. No questions asked.





  I know every single person in our group can say very proudly, 'I climbed Mt. St. Helens.' It was a great thing to accomplish together. Just don't ever ask me to do it again. ;) ;)

  Til tomorrow

  ~ Sabrina

We made it! Tracie, and my mom.

Hallelujah - it's over! ;)