CJ and I have been hiking fools lately. About six months ago we decided we would climb Mount St. Helens. We are going with a group of 10 other friends on July 22-24th. CJ's 30th birthday is on Friday July 22nd. We will be camping at Climber's Bivouac Base Camp and then departing Saturday morning at 4:30 am for the summit. Yes, you heard me, 4:30 am! Yikes ;-)
To prepare for this we have been hiking all over the NW. Over Spring Break we went to Orcas Island in the San Juans. We hiked Mt. Constitution and had a spectacular view of all of the sound.
We've also hiked Smith Rock, Sahalie Falls, Coyote Wall, Council Crest, and Saddle Mountain. It has been great training and I think we are pretty prepared for the climb. We will be hiking over 4,500 feet in five miles to reach the top with an elevation over 8,300 feet. We have to wear gaiters and rent an ice pick from REI. Apparently the view from the rim is spectacular and then you get to glissade down the mountain when you are done. It sounds exhausting and awesome all at the same time. It is supposed to take 9-10 hours total. I am confident I will need a lot of ibuprofen afterwards ;)
For more information on climbing Mt. St. Helens, check out the National Forest Service Website. I will definitely blog about it when we get back.
sounds so fun! good for you!
ReplyDeletehow are you doing on your 30 before 30 list?
Time to start blogging again, Amy, so you can share photos of your little angel! I nominated you for a Liebster award to get you going:
ReplyDeletehttp://marie-everydaymiracle.blogspot.com/2013/03/blogging-from-to-z-and-liebster-award.html