Last week, we secured permits to "climb" Mount St. Helens in Washington state in September - now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate.
I made this ascent in the snow as a teenager with the Boy Scouts about 20 years ago, and am looking forward to sharing it with Jen this time around.
I'm a little reluctant to call this a "climb" because it's a non-technical, five-mile hike that gains 4,500 feet. Sure, that's up, but it's very similar to several hikes we've done around home and elsewhere in recent years, only lower (it tops out at 8,365 feet).
And for any of you worried about this being an active volcano, the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey say the lava dome-building eruptions that began in the fall of 2004 have ended and the alert level has been lowered to normal. And, if the rumbling begins anew, the agencies will close the mountain to climbers.
Find out more about St. Helens here.
