Our adventure started very early as my alarm woke me at 3:00 AM. I joined a group of 22 women on a Sierra Club organized climb of Mt. St. Helens. We started on the trail at 6:55 AM, a little later than planned due to some unforeseen delays. We were thrilled to see that the sun was indeed shining in the sky as we departed. The first two miles or so took us along a tree-lined elevated trail, where we began to see ourselves advancing above the low clouds and got our first view of Mt. Adams with a lake below, difficult to capture shooting directly through the sunlight.
After about two miles, the trees ended and we hit the rocks. The first thing I noticed was wild heather growing from the ash amidst the rocks.
When I say rocks, I mean, hill after hill after hill of sharp and jagged rocks combined with ash, winding ever upward. This is where the climbing began. I used muscles that I forgot that I had. Just when I thought the rocks would be behind us, there were more. They just went on and on like the energizer bunny.
The higher we climbed, we began to emerge above the clouds and see snow-covered glaciers. It was very surreal, being above the trees and surrounded by clouds that were below us. It was like sitting in heaven, looking down on earth.
The last quarter mile before the rim of the crater was a torturous ascent through the volcano ash. It was like walking through deep sand on an 80-degree uphill slant. You�d take one step forward and slide two steps back. It was slow going. At one point, I looked behind me and was mesmerized. Stretched forever behind me was an endless "pit" filled with clouds. It looked like I had just stepped off a giant cloud and onto the volcano.
From the rim of Mt. St. Helens, the view was amazing. We were now completely above the clouds and could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Rainier sticking up above the cloud line. I don�t think anyone on the ground below the clouds could have seen them, but we certainly could. My only disappointment was that Spirit Lake was not visible; it was below the clouds. Mt. Ranier, Mt. Adams & Mt. Hood:
When we arrived on the rim, the volcano seemed to be fairly still, but very soon, she began to �steam�. We took it as an official welcome and congratulations to our group of strong women. She continued to spew steam the entire time we remained on the rim. It was an awesome site to behold.(Mt. Ranier in background)
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On the way down, our jubilation quickly turned to agitation as we realized that the climb up the rocks was a cakewalk compared to the descent back over them. The ash amidst the rocks made it very, very slippery. Most of us slipped and fell numerous times � bumping, bruising, and scraping our already exhausted bodies. All I remember thinking during this section of the hike was �ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. I was never so glad to see the trees, signaling that the rocks would finally be behind us.
The last two miles felt like ten. I've never done another hike that took as long as this one. It took 5 hours to make it the 4 1/2 miles to the volcano's rim, and another 2 3/4 to make it back down. I finished with the first group of six at about 4:45 and raided the ice chest that our thoughtful hike leader had left filled with cold beer and champagne. I can honestly say that was the best cold beer I have ever tasted. All in all, it was an amazing experience. I lost two pounds and some skin off my hands and knees, but I gained some new friends, some incredible memories, and perhaps a little extra self-confidence. Not at all a bad trade.  | 
