Mt. St. Helens Exploration- September 2014

 It was National Park Fee Free Day!  We took our friend Celebrity to see Mt. St. Helens for the first time and hike along the Johnson Ridge trail.  Analise had just turned two years old.

Gil came along this time to enjoy this natural wonder.

There were a few clouds but overlooking the mountain was beautiful.

Overlooking the area where mud and lava flowed.

Taking a bench break to take in the view.

Gil took a turn with the heavy pack.

We enjoyed the first course of lunch.

Amy was sure to point out all the posts to let us know we were on the right track.

We enjoyed the view into the crater.

There is a little bit of permanent snow and an ever changing lava dome.

We spent some time enjoying the view.

Spirit Lake loomed large below us.

The log jam was cool!

Analise got to wiggle just a little but was mostly confined to the backpack.

The crater and lava dome is so fascinating.

The clouds swirled around us and the mountain.

It was easy to imagine the canyon full of lava, mud, and ash.

Analise recruited Celebrity to help with her rock collection.

We watched the eruption movie and continue to be amazed by the power and destruction of volcanoes.

A hike where Mountains blow up with no bugs- Aug 2013

Catching up on past adventures and came upon this gem:
Just before Analise turned one, we decided to head toward Mt. St. Helens at Amy's request









We headed up to Johnson Ridge on a beautiful clear summer day. We hiked on top of the piles of mud and ash that are over what once was forest enjoying the view of Spirit Lake below.









We took some time to enjoy the wonder of the inside of the mountain.









The lake has log jams all along the edges from the trees that were blown off the side of the mountain during the eruption.

This hike did not have many wiggle spaces for baby Analise, but she was able to play in dirt a little.









Looking across what once was forest to the crater is pretty amazing.









Amy took some time for drawing in the dirt.









I enjoyed seeing the red Indian Paintbrush flowers coming back.









It was a fun time to be on top of the world!









We spent some time watching the movie and learning about the eruption.









Analise got some wiggle time in the visitor's center.









One piece of trail was rather exposed.  We stayed safe and worked together.









What a lovely day!

Mom & Amy Backpacking Day 5- PCT Meadow to Marion Lake welcoming committee and home

Mom- We started out at 6:45am.  We were trying to make it 10.5 miles to Marion Lake by 12:30 but knew this would be an enormous challenge.  We continued to remind each other to stay mindful.

Mom- We saw Mt. Washington in the distance.

Mom- We crossed through some snow on the trail and met up with another hiker who told us to expect more down trees in our future!

Mom- We enjoyed the 3? mile ridge walk on the PCT and finally came to a junction heading west toward Marion Lake, still making pretty good time at 9:30am.

Amy- This is another royal queen throne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom- We headed down the Swallow Lake trail on steep, loose gravel.  Quickly my legs turned to jello.

Mom- Amy continued to push herself in "second gear" when possible and was very motivated to meet our friend.  Finally we arrived at Swallow Lake!  I tried to continue to the other end of the lake, causing us to backtrack despite Amy's request for us to go down to this part of the lake.

Mom- We ate some second breakfast and boiled some reserve lake water.  We tried to keep the break short and continued toward the final junction.

Mom- We enjoyed the Columbine.  Unfortunately, the trail became full of down trees again and going was quite slow through the burnt forest.  Finally we arrived at the final section and turned south to Marion Lake.

Mom- After 1.7 miles of more down trees, we finally arrived at Marion Lake and hiked our final mile to meet our friend Sarah!

Mom- We got to Lake Ann 2 hours late, but 10.5 miles by 2:30pm is very good for backpackers, even adult backpackers not to mention first time seven year old backpackers.

Mom- We were so excited to see sister Analise and Sarah who were just minutes away from leaving back to the car.

Amy- I was SO HAPPY to get to Sarah and Analise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I finally got to share my throne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mom- We hiked slowly, at two year old pace, which was great for us, the last 1.8 miles to the car making it a 12 mile day!

Amy- Analise and I kept asking to take pictures by trees.

Mom- I am so proud of both of us, but especially seven year old Amy, for her tenacity, graciousness, and courage to complete this very long journey with mindfulness!  I could not have done it without her by my side.  It was an intensely beautiful and intensely challenging 40 mile hike!

Amy- We finally made it to Sarah's car. We were glad to get to take our backpacks off for longer than when we camped at our campsites for the night.