ScenicBoys

Mount St. Helens - Part 2

In the morning, we woke up to the chirps of mountain chickadees and the musky smell of juniper. The sun was already warm at 6am and we knew there was a long day ahead of us. By 7 the oatmeal was finished, camp was broke down and we were ready to hike. 

ScenicBoys: Mount St Helens - Part 2 from scenicboys on Vimeo.

The trail was fascinatingly desolate. Dried mud and ash made the landscape resemble the moon, with boulders scattered about and deep canyons formed by only a few decades of erosion. It felt as though we were hiking in a desert, void of life for thousands of years. Thankfully there was a creek large enough to drink and bathe.

When we reached the trail marker the incredible view of blast zone lay before us. We were struck with awe and excitement as we dropped our packs and climbed higher up the mountain to get a better view. We could see three other volcanoes in the area (Hood, Adams, & Rainier), Spirit Lake still littered with dead logs, and 10+ miles of destructed forest.  

The sun was getting high as we made our way into the blast zone. The brilliance of the wildflowers became a second thought as the the new lava dome came into sight. This dome is the beginnings of a new mountain forming from the crater of St Helens.

 

The next few miles were spent hiking up a gravel road that met a paved road that eventually took us to the Smith Creek Trail head. It was in the high 80s and we were hiking, up hill, on asphalt. Then once we reached the new trail head, we had to hike another 3 miles, down hill, to reach shade and water. By 4pm we had reached a suitable campsite and promptly got in the cool, red creek.

This was our biggest day on this adventure. We hiked 24 miles. The highest point was at 4,885 ft and camp was at 2,050 ft. It was a long, hot day and after a bath and dinner we went right to sleep.

Mount St. Helens - Part 1

The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was (at the time) the most catastrophic natural disaster in American history. 

Today, it looks something like this...

ScenicBoys: Mount St Helens - Part 1 from scenicboys on Vimeo.

There are 18 volcanoes in the Cascade Range, stretching from Southwest British Columbia, through Washington and Oregon, and into Northern California. Living amongst these giant mountains is truly amazing. 

Mount Rainer (the largest volcano in Washington) dominates the Seattle skyline, and is an eminent reminder of the devastation Seattle could suffer when it erupts next.

29 years after the lahar fields of Mount St. Helens have settled, only small shrubs and young trees have taken root.  The wildflowers, however, are so abundant that it feels as though you're walking on seas of purple and yellow.

In total we hiked 36 miles across the East flank of the mountain.  We began our hike at the Ape Canyon Trailhead and hiked 5.5 miles through old growth forest, past the sub-Alpines, to the banks of Muddy Creek.  We could have hiked further, but the flowers and immenseness of the volcano stretched before us was so luring we decided to make camp and spend the night.

Check back next week for the Part 2 of our Mount St. Helens Adventure...

Mid-Summer Solstice: Scatter Creek

We’re just blazing through this Summer.  Michael asked us the other day, “Don’t you guys ever burn out on all this camping?”  With a chuckle we replied, “No Way!”

Just thinking about all those long, cold Winter months is enough inspiration to set us off on another adventure.  This is our #1 favorite thing to do – there’s simply nowhere else we’d rather be. :)

ScenicBoys: Scatter Creek from scenicboys on Vimeo.

Around the 21^st of June we usually celebrate the Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year!  Michael took the lead on planning this trip, though our initial (and very well thought out) plans were foiled by rain showers.  I swear the harder we plan for these adventures, the easier time the Universe has of setting us on a completely different course.  The North Cascades had been our original destination, but we eventually ended up in the Okanagan National Forest near the town of Twisp, WA.

The first night we picked a random forest road well after dark and drove long into the night in search of a suitable camping spot.  There wasn’t much available and we ultimately spent the night in a wide-spot barely large enough for the SUV and our two tents.  Nothing beats a good attitude and an open mind when things don’t work out as planned.  Once the tents were up and everything was situated, we cracked open some beers and gazed up at the beautiful night’s sky.  There were so many stars that it was difficult to pick out even the easiest constellations!

The following morning we drove on to Twisp for some breakfast and last minute supplies.  The Twisp River Road led us further back into the Okanagans.  Relying heavily on the Trusty Road Atlas, I spotted a seemingly easy 4-mile hike along Scatter Creek to Abernathy Peak.  The map showed a nice mountain lake at the end of the trail: what a great place to celebrate the Solstice!

It became clear shortly after leaving the car that we were headed down a different trail that what we’d seen on the map.  This trail wasn’t even on the map!  Thinking something promising would be just around the next turn we pressed on, but after a couple miles we cut our losses and made our way back to car.  Let’s try this again!

Upon further scrutiny we discovered the right trail and once again commenced our hike.  The trail became instantly steep and continued to climb.  For future reference, 4000 feet of elevation gain in about 4 miles is a TOUGH hike!  Like, black diamond difficulty.  Probably not the best choice for the three rookies (John, Brandon, and Kevin), but they toughed through it and a few hours later we collapsed onto our campsite.  At this point we were well above the snowline, but still a mile or more from the lake we’d been hoping to find.  What was that about keeping a positive attitude?  Haha…

That night we celebrated the Summer Solstice with loin cloths and all the beer we’d lugged up the mountain.  I’ve heard there’s good magic during the mid-Summer sunrise, and we honestly tried to stay up late enough to watch it.  We held out as long as we could, but one-by-one we drifted to sleep.  Oh well, let’s try again next year!

We should have our next Adventure posted in about a week.  Our hike up the East face of Mount St. Helens made the Scatter Creek Trail look EASY!  So check back soon…