The adventure, while not having the end result we had hope for, we still had an amazing time. We found these adorable off the grid cabins that ran off propane. It was perfect for our two night adventure, especially since the weather decided as soon as we got there that it didn't want tp cooperate with our plans. Very shortly after arriving it started to rain and didn't stop until the morning after our attempt at Mt. St. Helens summit.
We had a good hearty, healthy dinner and called it a night very early as we were planning on being at the trailhead at 0500 hours. It was still day light when we hit the hay, but at midnight almost on the dot I was woken up by the rain dumping on the roof. It was so loud on the tin roof and it didn't let up, not even a little bit. 0400 hours came too fast, but we grumbled and got outta bed, warmed up our pre-made breakfast burritos and hit the road. We got to the trailhead and the weather hadn't let up, not even a bit, but we were there and we were gonna make an attempt.
We were on the trailhead a bit later then plan, mainly because we were questioning our life choices and trying to figure out if we were all a bit crazy. There were a totally of four car in the parking lot including ours. So... yeah... I think we were a bit crazy. We were soaked through a mile in, we were all well prepared for the weather too. We had ponchos, multiple layers, and much of our gear was waterproof, this made no difference. By the time we reached the worm flow waterfall we were wet, warm, and question how much further the weather was going to allow us to go.
Thus far we had been protected from the wind pretty well by the trees, but now we were feeling some of the wrath of the blistering wind. We decided to push on and try to make it a bit further.
After crossing the worm flow the trees were much smaller and the wind really picked up. We decided we would push to the permit required sign, basically so we could say we at least used our permits. Once we hit the boulder scrambles we were really feeling Mother Nature's wrath. She decided to send more blistering winds and the rain became a thick mist. We all we frozen, wet, and hungry... while we all had food we knew if we stopped to try and eat we would freeze.
At the permit required sign there was a little cove that we were able to get a few pictures without soaking our phones, adjusting gear, and eat a few quick snacks before starting the trek back. I walked a whopping 5ft past the sign just to get a bit of use out of it. I was sad the Mother Nature wasn't going to let us pass, but also didn't want to risk anyone's safety in our group. We only had 2ish more mile to the summit but it would have been some rough miles and safety is always number one.
I could barely see an eighth of a mile ahead or behind us. The wind was whipping by so fiercely and with the ponchos on I felt like it'd parachute me right off the mountain at any minute.
We will try again in 2021 and I do believe I will be getting two sets of permits. I will be opening a group hike up to the Hikerbabes Chapters that I lead and also a smaller group of my closest hiking sisters. I hope out of my 2021 planned trips I will make at least one summit.
Happy trekking!! Be Safe out there!
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