Standing On Top Of A Mountain On A Clear Day

I knew I'd get you with the title, but we did make the summit of Mt St Helens Sunday and it was a clear day, but that is not the whole story.

We arrived Thursday evening to Beaver Bay Campground just behind Lisa and Gary. They had picked a nice spot where two sites would work for the whole group. The weather forecast gave us no cause for alarm. It was to be mostly sunny and about 70 Friday and Saturday with a chance of some showers on Sunday.

It was a little drizzly Thursday so we set up an awning over the table on one of the sites to help the table keep dry. We relaxed by a nice fire and noticed that there was a sniper aiming at us. We got him into a less conspicuous spot and went back to hanging by the fire.

We had a group dinner at the campsite on Saturday evening which left us lots of time to play so we explored the Ape Caves at Mt St Helens. I'm not big on caves, but it was pretty cool.

Dinner went great as people really did a great job with their contributions. A great time was had by all.

We gathered for breakfast at the campground at 5:15 so we could get the carpools worked out to the trailhead. Some people were leaving Sunday night for home and others were staying until Monday so there was a good bit of packing and running around going on. It was an all too familiar drizzly morning so I decided not to bring my big camera.

13 of us headed for the Marble Mountian Sno Park at Mt St Helens and 11 of us hit the trail at 6:30 AM. Dave and his son Lance were behind us. We didn't know if they were still packing their truck to leave later or what so we headed out. As it turned out they followed the signs to the Climber's Bivouac and were delayed an hour.

I began with a very stiff upper right hamstring and figured it would loosen up as we went. It never really did quit hurting or ease up any. As we went a foggy mist seemed to get thicker and thicker and our chances for the summit seemed pretty foggy at best.

At 4600 feet- after 1900 feet of elevation gain we gathered as a group of 11 one last time. Pam informed us the she Natalie and Emily were going to turn around in a little bit. I threw out some inspiration and headed up still nursing an ever tightening hamstring.

Seven of us were at about 5400 ft when the foggy mist seemed to get even thicker. We discussed the safety of continuing and had mostly decided that as long as we could navigate by the tracks of others that we would continue. Then as we hit 5600 feet - like a tired bible story - the skies opened up and we were in the sun and the clouds were beneath our feet.

If you have ever been doing anything challenging in nasty conditions and then had the weather change to great conditions you know what I mean when I say that it was rejuvenating and energetic to see the sun and the summit in view.

My leg was feeling worse and worse as I went and we have the Grand Canyon through hike coming right up so I was weighing the value of continuing up while risking a worse injury. That went on as I trudged up to about 7300 feet of altitude and roughly 5 miles of climbing. I was hiking to there with Gary, Terry, and Tom - sort of the old guys contingent. We had stopped for a quick break.

Something in my head at that moment said "First things first, Paully." I knew that I had to go up. The opportunities to summit any peak are rare and we had perfect weather. If my injury got worse I could always get out the baling wire and duct tape and piece it back together to hike the Grand Canyon. With a new mindset I pushed for the top and arrived at the summit at 12: PM.

The views were spectacular. All told 9 of our 13 summited with Lance catching and passing some of us as he skinned his way up on skis. Sherrie was first followed by Lisa then Justin, Lance and Phillip. I followed them and Terry, Tom and Gary were just behind me.

We were able to glissade down until we were back in the for again. After that it gets dicey since there are drop offs and without visibility you can;t see them coming. We opted to trek down from that point and were all back to the cars by about 3:15. 13 began and 13 returned. That is the only real definition of a successful climb.