Pictures I missed.....

If you look about 2 blogs down, you'll see my Mt. St. Helen's blog, but I missed a few photos, so here they are!

D.I.R.T

The life of a hiker is a dirty one. 

 No Pedicures for me until November

1 bottle of water + 1 towel = What we call a "  Mountain Shower"

From Nikki G.

Today I cheated on my man Rainier with a little lady named Saint Helen.

Mt. St. Helens! 

  Norway Pass + Independence Loop + 

Maybe some other stuff....we aren't exactly sure what trail we were on...

Stats

Roundtrip mi: ...........8? Maybe? 

Elev. gain: According to the WTA only about 600, 

but it was definitely more than that. My guess is about 1,000-1,500. 

Party:  Deb, Shelby, Sheer Cliffs, Blast Zone, Fabulous Mountain Men.

SUMMARY: This hike was truly unique and geologically exciting! Yes. Geology is exciting. It is incredibly humbling to walk in this newborn and continually growing forest/meadow. Normally I don't feel horrible meadow stomping around certain areas.....lets be honest....everyone does it. However....doing it here....in a meadow that has worked so hard to be where it's at; it should be a crime! I watched every step! Something about this area made me feel closer to nature than I have felt in years. I know that sounds cliche.... but I don't know....I guess I just see Mt. Rainier all the time, and its just this institution in my life and the life of all Washingtonians, I take it for granted. The meadows at Mt. Rainier are so thick and lush, because they have had hundreds of years to grow! Everything around Mt. St. Helen's seems so fragile; it is a reminder that what was once an institution can be literally blown away in seconds. And you thought Jersey Shore had "Blow-Outs"

Mt. St. Helen's Blow-Out

Jersey Shore Blow-Out

DJ Pauly D is pretty.....but I think Mt. St. Helen's wins. 

THE TRAIL: The entire hike was exposed....due to all the trees being blown down obviously, so the hike was HOT. Three words to describe this hike: HOT, DIRTY, ASHY. Almost all of the trail was this lose ash/dirt/volcanic rock. My mom and I were switching on and off being the "leader" because the person in the back inevitable, and literally ate dust. It was gross. My mouth felt chalky.

The wild flowers were out, not quite at peak (give it a week or two), but they were lovely all the same. Red and Orange Indian Paintbrush, Foxgloves alllll over the place, Orange and Avalanche Lilies, and many many more! 

The trail went steadily up and up and suddenly we turn the corner, and BAM. There is Spirit Lake. Now... I don't really know what I was thinking.... I guess I was thinking that Spirit Lake was just like any other average medium size mountain-y alpine-y lake. WRONG. When we turned the corner, it literally took my breath away. It was WAY bigger than I anticipated.... The feeling I had was very similar to when I went to the Sistine Chapel; Spirit Lake was bigger and more beautiful and more brilliant and more genius than I ever could have imagined. The whole trip I kept calling it "Nature's Sistine Chapel." 

I remember seeing Spirit Lake as a child, and being BLOWN AWAY (bad pun) by all the tree's that got blown into the water. It is so bizarre to see this sort of floating dead forest.

What do I look like???

Mom and I played this game for a while..."What do the logs look like?"

Shelby's thoughts: North America.

Mom's thoughts: A T-Rex. 

Don't see the T-Rex? Tilt your head to the left. 

Our family has "Jumping Genes!"

Ok, so there were some SKETCHY ass parts of that trail. I was sincerely concerned for my safety. These pictures do it NO justice..... but here they are. 

I wish the picture captured it... but basically that is the wee little trail... and if you look to the left, that is the sheer cliff. And the hill just keeps going down and down and gets steeper and steeper. Seriously seriously scary. I never thought I could give a rock a meaningful hug, but when I felt like I had to hold on for my life, I bet it's the best hug that rock has ever gotten! Speaking of rocks.....

I LOVE Geology. I think rocks are soooo cool. Especially around Mt. St. Helens. Absolutely fascinating! Basalt Columns and Really cool composite stuff. So my poor mother had to sit through me going "Ok, now look at THIS one!!!" and several geology 101 lessons. 

Amazing Basalt Columns!

Ok, so here are the rest of the pics!!!

Eleanor Lake + Grand Park ("Through the back door") July 20th, 2010

Elenor Lake + Grand Park "Through the back door"

Stats

Roundtrip mi: 9

Elev. gain: 1100ft

Party:  Michelle, Deb, Mosquitos, Potholes, Sheer Cliffs, and Shelby

Words to describe: Stunning Meadows, Lots of DEET. 

I wanted to point it out, just in case you couldn't see it. 

  SUMMARY: Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. This hike was so great! It was super easy (compared to what I am used to!), anyone who is physically capable could do this (even if you are out of shape, you could still make it! There are only a few steep parts!). You walk through a forest which I described as "Twilight looking" although, to be fair, I am in the middle of reading Twilight and have Edward Cullen on the mind, so everything is "Twilight looking" to me! Haha, but it was mossy and creepy looking for the first part. About a mile up you reach Lake Eleanor:

 Lake Eleanor is cute, small/medium sized, and quaint. There are camp sites there, but I wouldn't suggest it...the mosquitoes were sooooo bad. (I'll speak more to that in a minute!) So you hike up a few difficult, steep parts (you may need a "breather") but then, it opens to this amazing, beautiful meadow known as Grand Park. Grand Park is a HUGE flat meadow --when Mt. Rainier blew up, this is where the lava went....thus the flatness. When you look around, you are literally surrounded by meadow. Peak wildflower season is in about a week and a half, and I am sure it will be out of control beauty! 

Pictures really don't do this beautiful piece of land justice.

Michelle doesn't like her picture being taken, but occasionally when she turns her back, we snap one.

There is an amazing "Silver Forest" due to wild fires. Sad, but beautiful!

Avalanche Lilies

DANGERS: However, in order to do this amazing hike, you must take into consideration the physical capabilities of your car. Someone on the WTA website wrote: "The road has many potholes, but can be driven in any car if driven slowly." REALLY? ANY car? No. Absolutely not. The ten mile stretch of FS Road 73 takes about 40 minutes if you want to drive carefully and not destroy your car. The road had tons of potholes first off, and second, it was one of the scariest roads I have ever been on. I kept my nose in my Twilight book to avoid peeing myself. This picture doesn't do the scariness justice AT ALL, but it shows a little bit of the sheer cliffs off the gravel road winding up the hill....

It is a bit blurry as it is taken with my cellphone out of a window...but seriously....CLIFFS on one side, and rocks and trees falling off the cliff to your opposite side. SCARY. If you are easily freaked by stuff like this....well...lets just say Forest Service Road 73 is not for the faint of heart. One particular part of the road had what we called a "Stick Feature." We think it was put there to make the hole looks less gigantic and scary? "Lets just throw some sticks over it so they can't see that their car has the potential to go tumbling into the river...."

"Stick Feature" off to the left, marked with pink tape. Serious shitty road!

I wouldn't let the road stop you though, it was an incredible hike! Just take a hefty car, your big boy pants, and a cautious attitude. 

WILDLIFE: I have been to Grand Park twice now, once via the Sunrise side of Mount Rainier, and now via the back door (I recommend both!!! Both are stunning, but the back door is much easier, and shorter). Grand Park is known for having Elk, and I have never seen any there. Maybe I'm just not lucky! I did see Elk tracks, so they ARE there. We saw what looked to be cougar poo (not confident in this identification), but the main "wildlife" that I have to talk about are the stupid freaking mosquitoes. It was the WORST I think I have ever experienced. 

Dad: "Well, did you spray yourself with bug spray?"

Mom: "Yes. Like three times"

Dad: "Well, you gotta really cake it on, but it on your clothes and everything"

Shelby: "Dad, we know...we did...it was still bad."

Dad: "Did you spray it on your face and everything"

Mom: "YES. We sprayed it EVERYWHERE, multiple times, and it didn't help.... these mosquitoes were everywhere."

Dad: "Well.....did it have DEET in it?

Mom and Shelby: "YYYYEESSSS."

Shelby: "Nothing worked."

Michelle, my mother and I ended up having to eat our lunch while walking. As soon as you stop you will get swarmed. But no big, we just walked around, and looked at the mountain; sandwich in tote.

I know I talked a lot of shit about the road and the "wildlife" but this was a great hike, and truly amazing, and I would highly recommend it, to the novice and expert alike.

Double Rainbow Guy

This guy knows how to appreciate nature! OR he is on drugs. Perhaps both?



"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???? IT'S SO INTENSE!!!!"

Mt. Townsend, July 13th, 2010

Mt. Townsend

Stats: Roundtrip mi.: 8.2 

Elev. gain: 2900 ft 

High point: 6280 ft

 Party: Laura Bradford, Michelle, Deb, Beautiful views, and Shelby
Words to describe: "Oh Wow. Look at that!"

SUMMARY: So I have done this hike twice now, and I can confidently say that it is one of my favorites. It is totally worth the 2 1/2 hour drive out to the Olympics. This hike has so much to offer! -Wild Flowers, Mountain views (Olympics, Rainier, Baker), And an amazing bird's eye view of Puget Sound!

I could write about this hike all day, but really, the pictures are much more telling! Here we go! (P.S. I have done this hike twice, and I am using pictures from both times, so don't be concerned that I am switching outfits for the photos! haha)

One cool/funny thing is that the ranger station in the small town right before the hike (I forget the name...) gave away a bunch of free "Smokey the Bear" propaganda! (AND had a really nice, beautiful, glorious, clean restroom! Saying that a restroom was "beautiful and glorious" might seem silly to those non-hiking types, but after having to pee and poo outside in a variety of "mountain toilets" (ranging from a really stinky shack, a slightly barricaded camp toilet, a hole in the ground on top of an exposed peak, and of course.... leaning against a tree or rock and trying to go as fast as possible!) you will fully understand how one can describe a bathroom as "Glorious." Also, I would HIGHLY recommend using this glorious bathroom, as Mt. Townsend is a very popular hike, with not very many hidden spots (and by not very many, I mean ONE at the very top, across a ridge, and down a rock cove thingy)). Yes. I just had two parentheses inside of a parentheses. I do what I want. Here is a picture of my sweet Smokey the Bear temporary tat!

WILDLIFE? Well, the first time I did this hike, we saw two mountain goats, REALLY close up which was incredible! (They are a little stinky, however!) But this time- no dice. It is a really popular hike, so I wouldn't expect a lot of wildlife to make appearances, but there ARE mountain goat there!

CONCLUSIONS? This hike is an absolute MUST. Seriously. You must. I am obsessed with it. I couldn't stop looking around and going "WOW! Look at that!" as if my party wasn't looking. haha

If you don't believe me: WTA trip report

Shriner's Peak- July 5th, 2010

FIRST HIKE OF THE SEASON! 

Shriner's Peak

Stats

Roundtrip mi.: 8.5

Elev. gain: 3434 ft 

High point: 5834 ft
Party: Michelle, Deb, BEAR, and Shelby

SUMMARY: As you can see from this photo, there was just a lot of snow. So much snow in fact, that we were unable to reach the top. (However, we did this adventure on July 5th, and according to the WTA trip reports, the snow is melting and people are making it to the top.) This hike was difficult...as in... I wouldn't send a n00b on this hike. My booty ached for a few days afterward! The elevation gain was almost 3500 feet, which is intense! We loved it, but yeah.... I wouldn't take a new hiker here. They would hate you forever. There are beautiful views of the mountain, but the weather wasn't that great, so my picture doesn't do it justice.

Also, when you get to the top of Shriner's peak, there is a fire look-out. We didn't make it to the top, so this isn't my photo, but this is what you are supposed to see!

But don't cry for me, Argentina. I've done this hike before and made it to the top! No worries!

HOLY SHIT BEAR: Yup. We saw a bear. And by "we" I mean Michelle and my mother. My mother whispered "Holy shit! Bear!" Then Michelle runs up to see it and goes "Oh my God, it's running toward us" and up until that point, I was walking in the direction of the bear to get a sneek peek, but when I heard "Omg, its running toward us" I stopped dead in my tracks and reached for the bear spray. Turns out the bear was actually running in the opposite direction (the running motion had just scared Michelle.) HOWEVER, the opposite direction was down the trail....the trail we were also going down. We were headed in the direction of a bear. Great. So I start doing what you do when you see a bear. Waving my poles like a lunatic, and having conversations VERY loudly, and when I ran out of things to talk loudly about, I just started screaming things like:
"I LIKE KOALA BEARS. THOSE ARE NICE. GUMMI BEARS. ALSO DELICIOUS. TEDDY BEARS CAN BE CUDDLY SOMETIMES....." attempting to mask my blatant dis-like for bears. Michelle and my mother continually laughed at me, because for some odd reason, they enjoy bear sightings. I on the other hand get anxious and feel like peeing myself. Like how a normal person reacts when they see a bear. Not my mother and Michelle. They love it. In addition, they revel in my agony. They think I am hilarious. So eventually I start to calm down.... and then we see this:

Yeah.....the bear that was somewhere ahead of us was sharpening it's claws. GREAT. My eyes grew wide.

Shelby: "NO WAY"
Michelle: "Woah! That is so cool!"
Shelby: "That is NOT cool!"
Mom: "That is awesome!!! I'm going to take a picture!"
Shelby: "WHAT?!?!? There is a bear somewhere around us, sharpening it's claws.... and you want to take a picture???"
Mom: "Look how cool it is! I bet its fresh...like, that just happened. I'm going to smell it and see how fresh it is"
Shelby: "THERE IS A BEAR CLOSE BY SHARPENING ITS CLAWS AND YOU BITCHES WANT TO STOP AND TAKE PICTURES AND SMELL THE BARK????"

Michelle and Mom *start sniffing and taking pictures*
Shelby *Sighs but decides it is safer for her to stay with the pack....even if the pack is "stopping to smell the roses" of death. *

And it wasn't just ONE tree....it was at least TEN that were fresh... and about 30 that were old. I hadn't noticed the old claw marks on the way up, because it was never something I was aware of, or knew that I should be looking for. Upon finally noticing all the claw marks, I start shouting "OH MY GOD. LIKE....THIS IS WHERE THEY LIVE! WE ARE IN THEIR HOME. YOU KNOW WHAT I DO TO SPIDERS THAT ARE IN MY HOME????" while becoming increasingly paranoid. And Mom and Michelle just laughed away....

CONCLUSIONS: Shriner's peak was a good time. Its a rough hike, and you might meet a bear.