Hitting the trail so early in the morning has a few drawbacks primarily the spark plugs in my brain don’t fire as well as they should. I say that as the reason I got to the trailhead before having to walk back to the car to put the parking pass on the dashboard but I really should have done that before catching z’s the night before so I guess it’s no excuse.
Let’s flip this narrative so I sound less forgetful. Chris took the time to sign us into the day hike book (complete with vehicle and permit information) while I took the opportunity for an extra warm-up stroll (back to the car) pre-hike. There. That sounds so much better doesn’t it? ????
Into the Woods
The first 2 miles of the trail are through the woods. We didn’t get to see much of them during our initial trip as headlamps don’t provide a ton of illumination but I was able to spy some pretty cool-looking flowers along the edges of the trail.
Chris here: Early on I got spooked by what I think was the sound of a coyote. It was dark and we couldn't see anything. While I was mentally figuring out how to use my hiking poles as defensive weapons my other two hiking companions showed no signs of concern.
Chris also spied a super fat toad (frog?). My tired brain went “Oooh cool! Let me check this out!” to the detriment of the poor toad. I swear I didn’t bother it for terribly more than a minute (longer than I should have) before Chris called me out for scaring the poor thing and we moved on.
Thankfully for us, the wooded portion of the trail is quite flat. No rocks but every now and then we’d find some roots to stub our toes on or, in one case, wipe one of us out. Our first causality happened within the first 30 minutes. The mountain demands a sacrifice: blood, sweat, and/or tears are the currency. No names shall be mentioned regarding who fell where but let it be known that the mountain got us all before the day was out.
Every now and again there’d be a break in the trees where we’d wonder if we’d reached the end of the wooded bit and were about to start the next leg of the journey. I was a bit surprised a the number of these teasers. The first few just highlighted the upcoming climb but some of the later ones showcased a gorgeous mountain sunrise. This made the Alpine start 100% worth it in my opinion.
The Ridgeline
There are 2 trails leading to the summit of Mt. St. Helens: Monitor Ridge (aka the summer route) and Worm Flows (aka the winter route). We are only kinda crazy so of course we hiked in the summer and got to explore Monitor Ridge.
My dear reader, if you learn nothing else from this post, know that one (does not simply walk into Mordor; no wait…) need not follow the ridge. There isn’t a trail per se. There are guideposts so you don’t go too far astray but there is not, I repeat, there is NOT a worn path you need to follow. You do NOT have to travel directly from white pole (trail marker) to white pole. You just need to keep them in sight so you don’t lose your way.
You’re probably asking why are you making such a big deal of this? What does it matter?! I’ll tell you, dear reader, our early start meant there was only one much faster person on the trail in front of us. We saw him at the logbook and then never again. We had no one to imitate so we did what we assumed was the right thing and hiked the ridgeline with the white trail markers.
You may be able to tell in the photos but there’s the ridgeline on the right with the trail markers and then there’s this lovely valley, and then on the left is another ridgeline. We could have stayed in the valley pretty much until the boulder field. Instead, we took the hard way along the ridge and some bonus boulders.
We figured it out after an hour or so as more people started to pass us. We eventually joined them. Honestly, at this point in the day, I had no regrets about the choice to be on the ridge. The views were incredible and I love clambering over big rocks.
The reason I so strongly advise you to know your trail is because you have to ensure you have enough energy to finish the hike. Not just get to the summit but to get all the way back to the car. Wearing yourself out too early can have major repercussions later but I’m getting ahead of myself.
We enjoyed a lovely stroll along the ridge with some incredible views and eventually reached the next phase of the trail, the boulder field.
She who will not be named took the first fall but I (see what I did there ;)) didn’t spill any blood so more sacrifices were needed till blood was drawn by the mountain. Stubbed toes is just a thing with long hikes ????
Love the storytelling! Great idea getting that extra warmup! Gorgeous photos!!!