After having finished reading the book about Truman and his love for Mt. St. Helens, this hike picked itself. I needed to be on the mountain he loved in order to honor his life my way. I figured it was the middle of June and that we should be able to get up onto the mountain to some degree. Turned out there was still more snow than I expected up there, but it was a wonderful day nonetheless. The trail we chose was on the west side of the mountain and would take us through huge washout zones, sections of old growth forests, deep gullies still full of ash and areas of young forest recovering from the blast. This hike had so much variety and really showed the power of the explosion on Mt. St. Helens about 43 years ago and the effects still here today. I was also able to appreciate the beauty and solitude that Truman had on this mountain. He had probably walked right through here, but it surely looked very different then.
One of our first challenges on this hike was going to be a river crossing. This was early in the season for fording rivers, so the water was going to be high, fast and cold. I could hear the river about a mile before we could see it and I was praying that it had more bark than bite from the thundering sound assaulting our ears! But when we got to the river, I shook my head and tried not to pee my pants. After searching up and down the bank for the best way to cross, I finally decided on a log walk that would take me about half way across the river to another log running parallel down the center of the river. Then from there I could move downstream on that log a ways to another log. Then with a bit of a jump I could get on it and make it to the far bank while crossing the deepest section of river. The plan was to cross without getting wet today.
We made it across the first log just fine. Nova the beauty kept her feet dry by walking the logs with me. Josie the beast of course plunged right in the cold current and was plodding and swimming her way to us. As we transitioned from the perpendicular log to the parallel river log, Nova almost fell in, but I caught her harness in the nick of time and pulled her back up. Her face was ever so grateful as we smiled at one another. As we moved down this bark-less log downstream and got a closer look at the next transition, I realized that Nova would not easily be able to jump from the log we were standing on to the next. So I crouched down and held her before scooping her up and tossing her to the next log where she stuck her landing beautifully. She knew exactly what to do. As she started to cross that final stretch, I made my jump yelling at Josie to get behind me. Since we were all tied together, there is a lot of trust that has to happen on a river crossing like this....especially one with complicated transitions from log to log. We must move in unison. As soon as I got to that final section, I could see the water was much deeper under us. It would clearly be over my head if we fell in and I did not want to take a swim when my gun was not in a dry bag! I prayed that Josie would follow on the wood and not try to jump in the water here! Thank God that is exactly what she did and we all made it to the opposite bank unscathed! I am not sure which of us was more shocked by this and I think we all paused for a deep breath. "Okay," I said to the girls, "Let's get this hike started!" feeling pumped to have made it through the obstacle.
Before long we were diving deep into an old growth forest. The trees were immense and so hard to believe they were still here considering what this mountain had done. It gives a new perspective to think about the power of a blast that removed so many trees just like these. Many are 6-8 feet in diameter and I have read that some of the largest trees in the State of Washington can be found here on Mt. St. Helens! Even Josie was impressed with their size. Keep in mind that this wolf is a very large and long-bodied girl when you view her next to this tree.
The trail was easy at first, undulating and slowly switch-backing through the trees and ferns. We could hear birds singing, but there was an overall stillness to the day. I wasn't sure if it was the cloud cover, or the heavy snow just above us, but everything seemed very quiet. There were no other cars at the trailhead and no humans anywhere, so we savored our isolation and solitude. At one point, we were able to look down on a lake so green it made us stop and just stare at it. Later, we were going to have to climb down to that lake to get a closer look!
Our next challenge on this hike occurred shortly after getting up into the snowline. We were moving along and I was debating if I should get my crampons out for my boots yet, but was procrastinating. We were slipping and sliding for sure, but it was still manageable on the trails as there were no major cliffs or ravines to slide into. But when the trail did move down into a ravine and I knew we had to cross through it and up the other side, experience told me that there would be a river under the snow here and we were going to cross the snow bridge above. There was not an easy way to know how thick the snow bridge was or how far beneath it the river ran. So as always, I sent the girls out in front to test stability knowing that if they fell through their leash and harnesses would catch them and I could pull them back up.
Everything seemed fine until we were about halfway across the snow choked ravine. The snow was still handling both of the girl's weight while they were standing apart. But then I took another step forward just behind and between them and felt the bridge give way beneath me. In moments like this, everything turns to slow motion....which I secretly love. I could feel my boots and ankles being swallowed up. Then my knees and upper thighs gave way. I kept falling, feeling myself breaking through snow and into a hole that swallowed my hips and waist and just kept going. At that moment I threw both my arms out to my sides to arrest the fall at my shoulders. I was not going to go deeper than that I determined! "This far and no further." I whispered.
Once I stopped the fall with my arms, I looked down at my body and saw a tangle of logs and branches all around and beneath me. I was shocked I had not been impaled on the mess below and only had minor scratches on my legs. I pulled myself out of the hole wiggling onto my chest and belly on the surface of the snow bridge that had not yet collapsed. The girls looked at me with concern and trust and turned to pull me across the trail on the snow as I slowly and cautiously rose to my feet holding my breath and expecting to fall through again at any moment. Luckily the bridge held us the rest of the way to the other side of the ravine. I was breathing hard and fast when I reached the other side. Once again, I knew I had proved my point that as a hiker, weight lifting does matter. Sometimes people think it is weird that I lift weights six days a week when they figure I only need strong legs to hike. But I cannot tell you how many times you really need strong arms on the trail! If nothing else, a strong upper body makes heavy pack carrying a lot easier! But today's arrest of my fall would have ripped my arms out of their sockets had I not had the muscle to withstand that in my shoulders! As I stood there trying to slow my breathing, I contemplated what just happened. I could feel the mental strain of the fall with close call of impalement and the challenging river crossing already closing in on me.
It is funny to me how on the trail when things happen, I feel it mentally more than physically. We had not gone too many miles yet.....maybe 5 tops. My body was not really tired as we had just begun. But my mind was feeling the strain and pressure that comes from doing difficult things that can scare you. My brain was trying to get me to call it quits. I already knew I would have to recross the ravine's snow bridge as well as the river and who knew what else was to come. But I love these moments on the trail....when I can tell my mind to shut it and push forward despite the stress and fear. These are the times when I build character. These are the times when I see what I am made of. So onward we pushed. Soon we were all distracted and laughing by Josie finding and trying to hide a new bone treasure.
She carried this for probably 3 miles during the hike, even holding it in her mouth to go potty so no one would take it from her. Eventually she did lay it in a place of honor beneath one of the giant trees. We all gave it a moment of silence. Nova then decided she wanted to pose in her new pretty dress with matching pearls. No wonder she didn't want to get it wet when we crossed the river! Such a princess with her lace cap sleeves and embroidered pink flowers!
Now the huge trees are amazing and beautiful, until they fall across the trail. Then they become a true obstacle! Our "Under-Over" game does not work very well when the tree is over 6 feet tall across the trail and there is no room under it to shimmy through. Josie loves jumping and has a true gift of being able to jump incredible heights from a standing position. Nova and I do not have this gift due to our shorter legs and apparent lack of springs. But we did eventually climb up onto this monstrosity and then enjoyed walking along the top.
We were going in and out of snow as we gained and then dropped elevation on the trail. The shaded ravines were full of it, then we would climb out and it would be gone. But eventually we got to where it was all snow all the time. This makes it so much harder to navigate and stay on trail. There were no prints of anyone else to follow. Clearly no one had been up here for some time...maybe not since the Fall before the last snows fell. We were finding tons of evidence of animals though....mostly elk today. There were clearly large herds moving through the area and by the end of the day, we were privileged to see 2 separate herds of the large beasts. Josie of course just wanted to chase them. There were also several deer and tons of squirrels and chipmunks running amok. We were hoping to find a bear on the isolated and seemingly abandoned trails, but no such luck.
As we moved through the forests heading north along the west side of the mountain, we enjoyed finding some secluded meadows. Josie was thanking God for her bucket list hike today...bones, snow and river fording all in one day. Heaven for a wolf. Nova just wanted a piece of freeze dried liver treats from the bag hanging off my tactical belt. Those make any hike a bucket list hike for her.
We played around in the snow, post holing, slipping and sliding as we went. I was still refusing to put my spikes over my Gore-Tex Trail Runners. I knew they would fit, but it seemed weird to put crampons on without snow boots. I am sure it will surprise no one when I tell you that I was still wearing shorts today and refusing to put the pants on that were just inside the top zipper of the pack on my back. It just seemed like too much trouble and it was the middle of June after all. But my legs were turning all kinds of shades of red which was rather entertaining to watch. However when they started to turn a very unhealthy mottled yellow color, I decided we should finally turn around (after lots of giggling, picture taking and pressing on the skin to see if it responded) and head south along the western flanks to drop our elevation and explore somewhere new. I still wanted to see that green lake close up and cross down south to some places I had read about. There are many criss-crossing trails through here and time was not on my side to explore them all!
Luckily heading back the way we came was fast going and I was able to avoid the same weak spot in the snow bridge and not repeat the fall there. However, when we got to the river, it was running even higher than before since it was later in the day now and more snow had melted. I put Josie in front with Nova behind her and I acted as the caboose this time. But when we got halfway across the deep section on the first plank walk, Josie froze for no apparent reason. This meant all three of us were lined up with our weight starting to bow the wood. Water began to flow over my boots as the wood was sinking. "Go Josie!" I yelled. She wouldn't move. "Go Josie!!!!!" I yelled again. Nova decided to push underneath Josie to show her what to do tangling their lines on the thin wood. I finally had to give the wolf a shove from behind to restart her and just as we got to the end of this section, the thin wood propped up on a boulder in the center of the river started to have a teeter totter effect. I could feel the back end lifting up off the bank behind me. "This is just great." I thought to myself. As if it wasn't hard enough to be balanced in the center of this river tied to two dogs with their leashes tangled, now, the thin plank of wood I am on is bouncing up and down trying to throw me off. As the girls jumped to the center log I quickly followed hoping the teeter totter wouldn't throw me into the deep current. There were surely come choice words coming from my mouth as I started to fall and ended up grabbing onto that log running parallel to the river's center with both arms and legs. My feet were bouncing in the current just off either side of the log, but I was straddling it and for the most part dry. Josie again had frozen, but this time Nova was in front of her. I tried pushing, but she would not budge. Nova was trying to pull, but the wolf was not moving. So I did what any reasonable person would do, I pushed the wolf into the river on the right side of the log so that Nova and I could keep moving above the water and she could swim. I gave up and just crawled on my hands and knees with my pack weight pushing me down until we made it to the third and final log. I needed to keep my center of gravity low so Josie wouldn't pull me into the river with her. Once I made the transition to the final log, it was too skinny to crawl on, so I stood to my feet and ran across it with Nova in the lead. I was happy and relieved to be across the river with only some slightly wet boots to show for it. I was even happier to find that no human had turned up to watch this ridiculous river crossing. How embarrassing that would have been! It was not my best!
We then decided to leave the trail and go in search of that lake we had seen from above; shining so green and brilliant. It didn't take long to find it, but we were disappointed that from ground level, it did not appear nearly as green as from above! But both girls went in to get drinks and I seriously contemplated stripping down and going for a swim. But since I was already pretty cold and it was only in the 50's today with no sun shining down to warm and dry me, I knew it would get me too cold to do so and I still wanted to hike for several more miles. Besides who knew what color my skin would turn if we did swim this thing.....smurf blue I imagined! So off we went back to head south along the mountain who would not show her face today.
We navigated a huge area which had clearly seen some amazing flooding, but was starting to recover with tiny trees in the ash and sand at our feet. Then we moved into a forest where every single tree was right about the same age. The landscape here was surely telling us her story of survival. As we hiked, we would move in and out of ravines where more flash floods had been. They were fun to explore and feel the ash beneath our boots. The girls enjoyed posing along the way. But they mostly wanted to get back to the truck to their special post-hike bones. I can't say that I blamed them, as I was craving some M&Ms something fierce. So after we had traversed and explored south as far as we dared go in one day, we turned back to head to the trailhead and my beloved green truck. I'm not going to lie, we ate, drank and slept in the truck at that lonesome trailhead for a couple hours before driving home. It was glorious. I always have the best naps when in my truck or on the trail! I don't really understand this as I suffer from insomnia when in soft and cushy beds anywhere else.
But if there is one thing I do know and understand, it is that the very complexion of a hike can be changed by the adventure experienced while on it. Is not the greatest risk we face on the trail not taking the adventure? Is not the greatest danger we face in life not facing our fears head on and doing what scares us most? Truman of St. Helens understood this well in his final terrifying weeks on the mountain. Why do so many of us hide from finding our true selves and our true potential? When we are pushed to our limits, why do we stop instead of pushing through that wall? Perhaps that is the greatest achievement we can have....to go into our very core, to find our limits and push beyond what is natural and possible in our minds. To push to where God wants us to be and not where the enemy would have us lie useless and lifeless. But then what do I know....I am just a tiny woman who walks with a wolf and a dog in a tutu.
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