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! ;)

Hiking St. Helens

Our Mt. St. Helens crew!

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  You would have thought growing up in the Northwest and going to college in Colorado, I would have hiked my fair share of mountains. But until a few years ago, that wasn't the case. I was never a skier (except for the water variety), so I never had reason to venture up into the mountains. It was normal for me to spend the weekend in a gym playing basketball as a kid. And in college, if there was any free moment to catch up your rest, you took full advantage by doing absolutely nothing.

On my way up Mt. St. Helens.

   So that meant I never saw Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, or any of the other beautiful mountains in the NW and Colorado, up close and personal.

  Over the past few summers though, my former Colorado teammates have managed to drag me up a mountain or two. It was always fun, but nothing too serious. Hiking is a nice way to change things up. Do something different. You get a decent workout in, and you get to see some pretty incredible sights while doing it.

Royal Arch hike in Boulder.

  The hiking got serious last summer however, when my friend Tera (shout out T-money!) told me that her mom and a group of her friends from Minnesota wanted to hike Mt. St. Helens. And since it was in my neck of the woods, if I would be interested in hiking along with them. I said, 'sure!' without giving it a second thought. Figured if I was a true Oregonian, hiking Mt. St. Helens was something I HAD to do.


   Let me just tell you right now, hiking Mt. St. Helens was the most difficult thing I have ever done. I had previously hiked a 14'er in Colorado (a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet), and while it was hard, it wasn't scary and it was something I knew I could do again. The hike was just tiring and time consuming (and made your hands and ankles swell, but that's beside the point). So I think hiking Mt. Quandry gave me a false sense of security or false confidence. St. Helens only tops out around 8,400 feet. So I thought surely THAT wouldn't be more difficult than a 14'er!!!

At the top of Mt. Quandry.

Hiking Mt. Quandry with some of my Buff teammates.

  Wow, was I wrong. The hike took nine hours total. About five to climb, and another four to descend (side note: I would love hikes even more if there were helicopters waiting at the top, so there WAS no descent!!). The first hour and a half was your normal switch backs through the trees. Nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary there. But once through the tree-line, that's where things really got interesting.

Me and my mom. Just out of the tree-line.

  For the next two and a half hours we were subjected to the 'Boulder Field'. Essentially it was climbing up and over giant boulders. Not only was it tiring, but it was a little scary. One wrong move, and you could fall backwards. Not a good ending if you're climbing a mountain. This was physically, as well as, mentally draining (add on the fact that I was worried about my mom. She was hiking with us, and I didn't want her falling off the mountain either!).

Our very own motivational speaker, Rene. :)

My mom & Tera maneuvering their way up the boulders.

Once we were nearing the end of the Boulder Field, Tera and I talked that surely 'this had to be the worst part.' A guy who wasn't in our group, but climbing along with us said, 'nope, we still have the ash and pumice to go through.'

  For those that don't know, Mt. St. Helens is a volcano. It famously erupted about 30 years ago, literally blowing the top off of the mountain. That eruption, along with some other more-recent volcanic activity, left a thick layer of ash and pumice rock. We hit the ash and pumice field about four hours into our hike. You can imagine our legs were on fire. I know my quads and calves were screaming at me. 

The lovely ash & pumice. There's my mom & Tera's mom making their way to the top!

  The ash and pumice made things all the more difficult. Imagine taking a giant step forward, and then sliding backwards a foot and a half. Pretty counter-productive, isn't it? So to keep from sliding, you were forced to take tiny steps. This turned out to be exhausting, and even harder on your legs. But an hour later, we could finally see the end in sight (not exactly the end, but the summit none the less).

Chillin at the top (some more than others)!

A look into the crater. Mt. Rainier behind.

  Once at the top, it was pretty exhilarating. You could see into the crater, and you could see countless other mountain tops along the Cascade Range. We sat at the top for some time, refueled with some PB&Js and trail mix, and tried to catch our breath. After about 30 minutes, the excitement had worn off. Now we had to figure out how to get down the mountain!!! :)

  The descent is a story for another day. Because it was just as difficult, and just as out of the ordinary, it deserves an entry of its own!! 

  Til then, have a great weekend! Game day tomorrow for me as well! Talk soon...

~ Sabrina

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