Mt St Helens Mother's Day Weekend Climb

We chose Saturday before Mother's Day for our first Mother's Day Weekend Mt St Helens climb. It turns out we chose well. The weather Saturday was fantastic and it began raining at about 6 AM Sunday.

Pam, Athena and I were the first to arrive at Mable Mountain Sno Park which is the trailhead for the Winter climbing route of Mt St Helens. We set up the RV, ate some lunch and pulled out some books to read. We had been told when we picked up our climb permits that our group would make 510 permits issued for Saturday. This is the last weekend before the permits are restricted to 100 per day.

We had already decided to discuss with the group a very early start to avoid the traffic jam that was surely going to happen.

The next part of our group to arrive was Sherrie and Spencer. They had decided to hike past the tree line and get an early start and we figured that we would meet somewhere on their way down since they would have a head start on us.

Athena isn't fond of being tethered to anything and has a precocious was of making her point. She wrapped Sherrie up and when Sherrie didn't give in and unwind her she forced her head through Sherrie's legs to get her to comply and then gave her a sly smile.

Sherrie and Spencer headed off and we went back to reading until Lisa arrived. We had dinner and decided on 3:15 for a wake up time. Garry wasn't to arrive until late so we didn't have a chance to give him the schedule, but Saturday morning after the alarm went off I took Athena out and quickly found Garry parked near us and already awake.

 

We ate some breakfast and were on the trail at 4:05 AM. Pam led us quickly in the dark, covering the first 2.33 miles in just over an hour. That is where the trail ends and the mountain begins. The first 2 miles has 1200 feet of elevation gain leaving 4200 feet in the next 3.5 miles.

First light had us in great position for some pictures only available at that time of day. We gathered our prizes and headed up. We added our dresses after day break so that we stayed within the tradition. I have never hiked in a skirt before and really don't recommend it, but masked by the party atmosphere and silliness is a tradition that honors Moms for all they do. It was certainly more poignant than I thought it would be.

Mt Jefferson

Mt Hood

Mt Adams

We plugged along and ran into Sherrie and Spencer just under 7000 ft. We were on our final food and rest break before the last push up the mountain. They decided that we wouldn't be far behind them since they still had to break camp on their way down.

 

Pam kicked butt on the last stretch padding one hiker along the way and we summited and shared the top with around 20 people including one guy who decided to ski into the crater and hike back out. I do not think that was smart since there were obvious crevasses  throughout. He did live to tell the tale, though.

After a  break at the top and more pictures we hit the glissade chutes for the easy way down. The first chute took us 850 feet of elevation in one shot. In total we glissaded the bulk of 3250 of elevation down to 4900 feet.

The final piece was the hike down to the Worm Flows trail and out to the trailhead. The entire trip took us 8:15 minutes including breaks along the way and a nice stop at the summit.

On our way down the lines of later risers were forming en masse. Dressed up and enjoying a warm day on the mountain, they envied us sliding on our butts on the slope they were trudging up. The total permits issued for Saturday ended up at a record 685 and it ended up being perfectly timed by us. We had no traffic going up and very little in our way coming down.

We packed up and headed down to Beaver Bay Campground for some well deserved calories and adult beverages. Another great dinner and some more beverages and we all retired early. The rain began about  6:00 AM so we packed up and headed home.

Traffic was thin and we now have our pictures transferred, our clothes washed, our groceries purchased and my blog post complete.

Be very well and more soon....

Didn't You Climb That Thing Like A Million Times Already?

So we are off tomorrow to head down for our Saturday climb of Mt St Helens. I remember questioning Pam and her climbing pals why keep climbing the thing every year. Of course I was a couch potato at the time with no frame of reference.

Now I am asked the same question so here is why.

First, whether it is the winter or summer route Mt St Helens is a formidable opponent and you are not guaranteed to succeed. The weather can turn you around with everything from snow to sleet to wind and rain. Visibility can go to hell in no time and make it unsafe to continue.

Next, the effort required always goes past your physical fitness and into your will. The steep trudge is a mental battle with yourself every time. I often say that your legs don't get you up to the summit as much as your head does.  When the pace drops below 1 MPH you are tested. That's all there is to it.

Last, the climb is different every time. Even the easier summer route from the Climber's Bivouac is different from climb to climb. The winter route from Marble Mountain Sno Park via the Worm Flows route is always new once you get the first 2 miles out of the way and clear the tree line. Then it's like a blank canvas that has one thing that remains the same - all paths lead to the summit as long as you are going up.

Every year we discuss taking Mt St Helens off of the list and doing something else. Maybe next year, but I am glad we have 2 dates with my mountain muse this year. I hope I get some nice pictures to share on the blog soon, but I'll at least have a story to share.

Be very well and more soon....

Stuff You Know Already

There is lots of stuff we have known a long time. We make choices based on what we know and it is always just up to us to choose right. That we are bombarded with advertising that wants us to stray is nothing but a convenient excuse. Every day we get up and make thousands of choices. They are ours and we own them.

When I was no older than 10 the news would warn us that we ate too much red meat and that was in the early 70's when beef was still mostly grass fed and pasture raised. Now the factory farms have the cattle eating GMO corn and even beef which jacks up the triglycerides in the meat and - in turn - your blood. That was before the factory farmed meat accounted for 70% of the antibiotic use in the US which we now know has been one of the factors leading to super bugs that are antibiotic resistant.

We knew back then that sugar was to be used sparingly. There was the risk of tooth decay and other issues. What we didn't know was that it was the leading cause of arterial degradation. We knew it was bad for diabetics, but we didn't know that it causes diabetes. And that was sugar - not high fructose corn syrup which is much, much worse for us than cane sugar.

We knew that too much starchy food made you fat. We weren't always hip to the places carbs were and that there were simple and complex carbs and how easy it is to avoid the simple ones and how necessary the complex ones are since they also tend to be a great source of fiber.

Now, we have know excuses. You have to live like the Unabomber to not know these facts.

The decisions we make based on those facts are life and death decisions. The trick is they are quality of life and dignity of death decisions. Those are the decisions that are harder to stick with because the involve the future almost more than they do the present.

Things like "If I eat this white bread now I will likely need to take blood pressure meds like my folks do now." don't easily form in your mind. They should because that is your link to and way out of the "family history" of this and that. We have family histories of ways to eat and exercise. They are real and are finally being pointed to in studies. They are not as much genetic as environmental.

So every day is another chance to decide to live as well as you can and to eventually die with as much dignity as possible. It's that easy. If you want to take so many prescriptions that you need the little pill boxes with the days split out to keep it all straight then eat whatever you want and forgo exercise. While you're at it be intolerant of others and never accept any responsibility when you can find a great excuse.

If, on the other hand, you want to skip the pills and chronic disease be honest with yourself every day. Eat to nourish yourself and exercise to renew yourself. Find common ground with people - especially those with seemingly different views - and look for solutions instead of excuses.

We are all works in progress with huge potential for great and terrible things. It is up to us to decide.

Be very well and more soon....

Wow! What A Weekend!

We had a great time this weekend. Saturday we drove out to Woodinville and rode our bikes along the Sammamish River/Burke Gilman trail to the Montlake Bridge to watch the crew races. We had a nice ride.

I decided that since the trail is relatively flat I would leave the front derailleur on the large sprocket. You have less shifting to do and less fall back positions. I feel like it gives me a better workout on a flat course.

It was already getting nice and warm by the time we made it to the University of Washington. We walked down to the boathouse and watched some races before heading back to Woodinville for a total trip just under 36 miles. We didn't set any land-speed records, but we made the distance in 1:13 each way.

Sunday, our plan was to head up to Camp Muir from Paradise. It measures 4.5 miles up and 4600 feet of elevation gain, so it is a great last hike before our climb of Mt St Helens next Saturday. When we arrived at Paradise it was blowing 20+ MPH so Pam and I decided to head lower on the mountain and hike up the Eagle Peak trail. We did get some pictures first though.

We were able to get about 2 miles up the Eagle Peak trail before we lost the trail in the snow and headed back.

Friday we head to Mt St Helens for our Saturday climb on the Worm Flows Route from the Marble Mountain Sno Park. If the weather forecast holds true we should have some great pictures to share.

Be very well and more soon.....



The Mountain whited out, but it was right there.


Managing The Last Part

Once the exercise and healthy eating are under control the last part of the puzzle is managing your stress. There is tons of research that indicates that stress causes you to add fat as part of the "fight or flight" response.

The thing I most struggle with is my expectations of others. It's funny because I used to preach to my sales people back in my car business days to manage their clients expectations. Basically, to under-promise and over-deliver. That makes for happy clients.

I am great at managing others' expectation, but I have been failing miserably at managing my own. This is my new goal.

I know, for instance, that Athena and I are lucky if we only have 2 close calls with vehicles while we are out walking less that 1 1/2 hours. I KNOW that it will happen and yet I kept allowing it to make me angry. That makes me an idiot more than the person in the car is. Obviously, they do not encounter people using crosswalks as often as I encounter them.

The last 2 walks I have employed this new way of thinking to great comfort. Instead of making them feel miserable by chiding them I make sure they see us and give them an opportunity to recognize that people do occasionally walk in crosswalks. I bet they learn more from that than they do from the yelling anyway.

In a more global vision my goal is to continue to try to affect change where I can control situations. Those are good places to keep your expectations high. Mirror the behavior I want to see in others where I can. There is no better way to teach sometimes. And learn to expect people to act the way they are going to act anyway and not mess up the flow by expecting a higher level of cooperation than is realistic.

Basically, if I can't fix it - forget it and move on. I have spent over 50 years learning the wrong way so this new plan will remain a work in progress for a while, but I am working at it.

Be very well and more soon....