Seattle - Day Three: Change of Plans

We woke up with a text from my brother Alex saying that he had hurt his ankle the night before and didn't think he'd be able to go on the hike to climb Mount St Helens with Joe. Oh no!

We had a few options to consider. Joe could hike alone. He could cancel the hike altogether. Or maybe we could change the name on the permit and someone else could go with him. 

Joe wasn't really keen on doing a birthday hike alone, but who would volunteer to spontaneously go on a grueling mountain climb hike with no training whatsoever?

That person is me. 

Turns out Joe was able to change the permit to be in my name instead of Alex's, so I started googling what this hike would entail. 

There are two different routes to climb Mount St. Helens. According to the Forest Service website:

"Most climbers use the Monitor Ridge Route from Climbers Bivouac...This route gains 4,500 feet in five miles to the crater rim at 8,365 feet elevation. Although strenuous, this non-technical climb is suitable for people in good physical condition who are comfortable scrambling on steep, rugged terrain. Most climbers complete the round trip in seven to twelve hours. While climbing to the crater rim is permitted, entry into the crater is strictly prohibited."

This was the route Joe was planning to take. Unfortunately, we found out that Climbers Bivouac is still closed for the "winter". Turns out mid-June is still "winter" up on the mountains. This means we would have to take the longer winter route. It has about 5,700 feet of elevation gain. Here's what the website says about the second route:

"The Worm Flows Climbing Route is the primary route used by climbers during the winter and early spring to reach Mount St Helens Summit...Ice axe, crampons, and avalanche awareness are recommended on this route. Skis with climbing skins or snow shoes with cleats are also highly recommended...Round trip is approximately 12 miles, Round trip time is approximately 7 to 10 hours. To reduce your exposure to avalanche potential, stay away from snow loaded slopes and gully bottoms. Stay off the cornices at the crater rim. Climbers should be prepared for winter climbing conditions."

Summer route in red, Winter route in blue. We had to take the longer blue route. 

So 12 miles sounds like a lot, but I've hiked maybe 8 or 10 miles in a day in the past, so 12 isn't too much further, right? (That's what I was telling myself.) 

I haven't been training for a mountain climb, but I had started hiking a few weeks ago, and so far had been going twice a week for about 3-5 miles on mostly flat terrain. So I had that going for me.

Mount St. Helens would just be triple that. And steep. But I could totally do this. (Right?)

From Adam and Devin's house, it's about a 3.5 hour drive to the trailhead. We planned to make the drive the night before and sleep in the van so that we could get started on the hike nice and early. Our National Park Inter-agency Annual Pass would allow us to park for free at the trailhead. We definitely didn't want to get stuck up on the mountain unable to make it back down before sunset. I had started googling various blog posts about other people's experience hiking this route, and I read about someone who had slept on the mountain so I definitely did NOT want to do that.

Alex volunteered to host all four of our kids overnight. The kids were actually pretty excited about having an overnight stay with "Funcle Alex" and planned to eat junk food and watch movies, and he even offered to take them to see the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden & Glass the next day since he had already taken the day off work.

With all that settled, Joe and I started packing everything we would need for the hike. The weather forecast looked pretty decent - low chance of rain, and temperatures ranging from the 20s to the 50s. Trail cams showed there was still a lot of snow in the trail. Fortunately Adam and Devin had some gear I could borrow since I wasn't planning on a winter hike on this trip. They had an extra camel water bladder hydration pack, waterproof jacket, and hat and gloves for me. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and packed some fig bars and granola bars and beef jerky. 

We had to bring and carry all of our water for the trip, because there is no water available at the trailhead or anywhere along the hike. We each had a bladder that could hold 2L, plus we each had a 1L water bottle, and Joe carried an extra 1L Nalgene bottle. We packed 2 extra gallons of water in the van so that we could drink the night before and in the morning, and then top up before we started the hike. 

We dropped the kids off at Alex's apartment at about 4:30 and told them they had better behave themselves and not be too whiny or squabble too much with each other. 

Neither Joe nor I have ever done any sort of winter climbing hike before. When he and Alex visited REI yesterday, the people at the store recommended renting crampons for sure, but said we probably wouldn't need an ice axe. In order to rent crampons at REI, you have to make an online reservation and then bring your boots to the store to be fitted. Fortunately they had some same-day availability, so Joe and I drove to the store with our hiking boots and learned how to put on crampons. I took a picture to make sure I wouldn't forget how they are attached.

At REI we also bought some meat sticks and some energy gel gummies. We got an assortment of brands and flavors, with and without caffeine. Joe only bought 1 pack for himself, but I got 4 for me. I felt I would need the extra boost of calories and electrolytes and caffeine for sure!

By the time we finished at REI and headed out of the city of Seattle, Google Maps estimated we would arrive at the trailhead at 9pm. I googled what kinds of dinners you should eat the night before a long mountain hike, and we decided to get thai food. We ordered Pad Thai with pork and Pad See Ew with chicken, very mild spice, from a place called Bangkok Thai. We also stopped to fill up with gas in Lacy, WA where the cheapest price we could find was $5.36/gal. 

Traffic was slow and we ended up arriving at the parking lot at about 9:30pm. There was a vault toilet so we were able to go pee, and then pretty much headed straight to bed. 

Ready to camp overnight at the trail head.

We didn't have any cell phone signal from here, so I was unable to check in with Uncle Alex. Fingers crossed it was going well!