Mt. St. Helens Climb, November 7, 2020

 

Mt. St. Helens Climb

November 7, 2020

 

The night before we made the drive over to Mt. St. Helens.  We camped just down the road from the main parking lot.  We got up early and hit the trailhead around 3:40am.  We had the same climbing group as our Mt. Adams climb: Becky and I and our two boys, Brian and his two boys, and one of our former Scouts. 

Our climbing party

Starting the boulder field

Watching the sunrise

            We started out through the trees and started the boulder field in the dark.  There was about 4-5 inches of new snow, which made the boulder field tricky.  We put our crampons on, just in case.  The wind started to really kick up and started blowing snow around.  We watched the sunrise and could see Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood in the distance. 

Mt. Hood in the distance

Mt. Adams in the distance

Sunrise

        

    As we made our way up the mountain, we could see the clouds and weather approaching.  As we neared the summit, the wind got intense and made it hard to stand at times.  

Last push to the summit

         When we made it to the crater rim at 8,363’ it was extremely windy.  We figured the temperature was in the low 20’s and the wind gusts were at least 40-50mph.  It was still clear and sunny, so we had a great view down into the crater and saw the lava dome.  We could also see Mt. Rainier in the distance.  We didn’t stay very long at the top and made our way down.

Becky and I at the summit/crater rim with Mt. Rainier in the background

Looking down into the crater at the lava dome

Watching as weather approaches

   The trek down soon became a whiteout with snow, blowing snow, and lots of wind.  The boulder field was difficult to hike through.  You couldn’t tell if a hole was between boulders or just a hole in the snow.  My left knee started going out and it was very painful to bend and walk on it the last couple of miles through the trees.  We all made it back to the car midafternoon.  We changed into clean clothes and warmed up in the car on the drive home.  When we stopped for food at Burger King, I couldn’t bend my knee enough to get back in the car.  All of the boys couldn’t stop laughing at me and calling me old!

Becky getting pelted with wind-blown snow

Finally made it back to the trailhead

Mt. Adams Climb, August 9-10, 2020

 

Mt. Adams Climb

August 9-10, 2020

 

South Side of Mt. Adams

We started out our trip by driving to Trout Lake and then on up to the climbing parking lot.  Once we got everything out of the car we were ready to go.  Our climbing party consisted of Becky and I and our two boys, Brian and his two boys, and one of our former Scouts.  The first couple of miles were hot and dusty.  

Our climbing party

After a quick break to pump and refill our water, we started climbing.  Just a couple hundred yards before our campsite my legs started to cramp up.  We finally made it to our campsite in the lunch counter area, around 9,000’.  We found some rock shelters to set up camp in.  We ate dinner and watched the sunset over Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.

Climbing up to our camping spot at Lunch Counter

Camping spot at 9,000' feet.  Mt. Hood in the background

Sunset with Mt. St. Helens in the background

We got up and ate breakfast around 3am and then started up the mountain.  We stopped and put our crampons on and then started going up some of the steeper sections.  We watched the sun come up.  It was a very clear day with few to no clouds.  

Early start

The shadow of the mountain at sunrise

We cleared Piker’s Peak, which is a false summit, then made our way over to the final push to the summit.  At the top there is an old abandoned cabin from back when a group tried to mine sulfur from the mountain.  We took some time on the summit taking pictures and found a place to get out of the wind and eat.  The view from the top is amazing, with a 360-degree view of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, and more.

Final push to the summit

Old abandoned cabin at the summit

Mt. Rainier in the background

Snack break at the top

After our snack and some more pictures, we made our way back down.  From the top of Piker’s Peak we could glissade down about 2,000’, which made our descent quicker.  Everyone had a fun time glissading.  We stopped at our campsite for lunch and packed up the rest of our gear.  On the way down I started feeling nauseous and tired.  Once we made it back to the car I fell asleep until we reached Goldendale and got Dairy Queen for dinner. 

Glissading down

Olympic National Park, August 3-4, 2020

 

Olympic National Park

August 3-4, 2020

 

In order to beat the heat at home, we decided to take a quick trip up to the Olympic Peninsula and visit Olympic National Park.  The boys and I did backpacking trips there the last two summers, but the girls had not been there in years.  We camped along the Hoh River, where the kids found some cool downed trees to play on in the river. 

Tree fort in the Hoh River

Hoh Rain Forest

            The next morning we got up early and went over to the Hoh Rain Forest, hoping to beat the crowds.  Luckily, there were few people there that early.  We went for a short hike, looking at all the various shades of green.  Every time I come here I am amazed at how lush and beautiful this place is!  When we got back to the parking lot there was a line of cars coming in, so it paid off to get there early.

Hall of Mosses

Rialto Beach

            Next we headed out to Rialto Beach.  With COVID going on, there are a lot of people traveling local, which meant that the park was busy.  We ended up parking almost a ½ mile down the road.  We hiked along the beach and out to Hole in the Rock.  Like most days here, it was very misty, which gives everything a mysterious feel.  Since the tide was in, we couldn’t go through the Hole in the Rock and instead climbed over the headland.  Once we were over there, we had the whole area to ourselves.  The kids played on some logs and threw rocks.  After a while we decided to head back to the car and move on.

Hole in the Wall

Going over a headland

            We drove over to the northside of the peninsula and camped at Heart O’ the Hills campground.  In the evening we took a drive up to Hurricane Ridge to look around.  There were a lot of deer out foraging.  The next morning we got up and finished the loop around the peninsula on highway 101.

Hurricane Ridge