Summit day.

At the beginning of the year I made a number of hiking goals. I organized a list of permits to apply for, set alarms for there application dates, and started planning. Mount Saint Helens, the John Muir Trail, the Enchantments, Wonderland Trail, etc. I’ve never summited a mountain before. Growing up in Iowa, our ski area put bunny hills to shame. My mountaineering skills are non-existent. I had read trip reports on an outdoor women’s group I am a part of on Facebook and decided to set a goal: summit Mount Saint Helens. Permit day came and went. It was at the end of my six night work rotation and I ended up sleeping through my alarm. By the time I logged into recreation.gov all of the permits were sold. I spent the next week or so checking the site for canceled permits (since purmit.com is no longer an option). I was lucky enough to find ONE. The thought of attempting it solo held me back, but I decided to go for it.

…and boy am I glad.

At the end of my six nights I was starting to get a head and chest cold, yet another blow to my already anxious mind. I drove the five hours to Windy Ridge with plans of other hikes prior to summiting. I ended up spending the next day driving around, not feeling well enough to do much more. I should know by now that hiking would have probably made me feel better, mentally and physically. I was getting nervous for Monday. Did I have the strength to summit? Had I done enough to prepare? Were there going to be views? Maybe I should cancel and wait until I could attempt it with someone else?

I drove south from Johnston Ridge Observatory to the forest service roads near Climber’s Bivouac Trailhead and found a place to camp.

I spent the next morning tossing and turning, replaying thoughts in my head. It was foggy and cool outside. My alarm went off—5:30AM. I had planned to be on trail by 6:00AM. Who am I kidding, I am not a morning person. I slowly started to get ready, changed out of my base layers, made breakfast, and was on my way.

I started closer to 7:30AM. Took a deep breath (insert coughing fit), and started my hike. There were a few other groups at the trailhead, as well as another solo hiker. Good, I thought…plenty of people on the trail without feeling crowded. A group of six or so women started just before me.

There was a mystical feel to the trail. The first two miles were through forest, with a very gradual elevation gain. There is a bathroom shortly before the treeline, last chance before the trail becomes exposed (on clear days). I was trapped in the clouds, visibility not far in the distance. I started working my way up the boulder lined trail, moving from one pole to the next. This isn’t the true start of the boulder field, but there are still some spots that require a little scrambling. I decided to put on my gloves here, even through there was still a defined trail in most places.

As I got to the boulders, I started meeting more people. Paces slowed down as the elevation gain increased. There were a couple spots where the trail direction was unclear due to the poor visibility, but eventually I was able to spot the next pole marking the way. By the time I reached the weather station, there were small glimpses of blue sky.

And then I was above it all. Clear blue skies above a sheet of white puffy clouds. Mount Hood and Mount Adams made their presence known. By this point the summit was starting to come into view. The boulders soon ended and the “trail” turned to pumice and ash. Two steps forward, one step back. I couldn’t tell if being able to see my end goal made it better or worse.

Two steps forward, one step back.

“You’ve got this.”

“You’ve made it this far.”

Words of motivation, intermixed with a little (okay a lot) of sailor talk. That final push the the summit is the worst. Made only better by the people on top cheering you on, and of course the views.

THE VIEWS.

The entire trail was in good condition and free of snow. To the right of the ash field (when coming down), there were multiple opportunities for glissading. I opted out of doing so since I was solo, didn’t bring my ice axe, and had never glissaded before. There were a couple of groups doing so when I hiked down.

The skies were now clear. I was able to get a different perspective of the entire trail, everything visible on the descent.

For reference:

• I hiked in Altra Lone Peak 4.0s and Dirty Girl Gaiters. I felt perfectly comfortable the entire time and only had to empty my shoes once (after coming down the ash field). I saw many others with trail runners and many with hiking boots and snow gaiters. I didn’t hike on any snow and had no need for microspikes. The only boots I had at home were getting too small.

• I took about 4 liters of water/Gatorade and probably would have consumed it all if it had been warmer or sunny for the majority of the hike up.

START: 7:30-8:00AM

SUMMIT: 1:45PM after a lot of short breaks!

RETURN: 2:30PM

TRAILHEAD: 5:45PM