Mt. Saint Helens Videos (Part 1 of 3)

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
Ah yes, the beginning of our adventure. Notice the fog and how cold everyone is but we start in a great mood. As you will see, I couldn't keep the camera steady.

NICK RIPS ONE
It is still early but Nick finds time to stop and let one go for the smelling pleasure of those trailing him. Check out my sister's faces as they climb this hill. Did I mention that we weren't even at the 2-mile mark yet.

NEVER-ENDING VOLCANIC ROCKS
You will enjoy Angie's burp in the background. I wanted to get a shot of the treeline below and show what it was like climbing the volcanic rock.

THE FOG
Here is everyone scrambling up out of the fog higher up the mountain. You will hear Ben planning our escape location if the mountain erupts.

Mt. Saint Helens Videos (Part 2 of 3)

NICK AND THE CHIPMUNK
We found this chipmunk on the volcanic rocks. What the...how did he get there? And listen to the wind. It was somethin' fierce!

T-LO
I gave Angie the camera so I would actually be on it. I always seem to avoid the videos but thought I better make an appearance to prove I was there. At this point, we had 1-mile to go.

ALMOST THERE
Jill is hilarious in this. She flat out yells. We are climbing up the last stretch before the top. We were so cold. Notice how her face is not too thrilled.

Mt. Saint Helens Videos (Part 3 of 3)

THE TOP
Here I am exploring my surroundings at the top of the mountain. Nick and I arrived together at the top a little after Ben and Angie.

SLIDING DOWN THE SNOW
Some decided to take a quicker route down the mountain.

THE ADVENTURE ENDS
The final chapter in our Mt. Saint Helens trip. Notice how Jill says she is never doing it ever again.

Mt. Saint Helens - Nailed It!

We started the strenuous climb at 7:00 am on Monday, August 25, and luckily all twelve of us made it out alive. I'm not gonna lie...this was the toughest hike I have ever done in my life and my body is feeling it. I guess the fact really didn't sink in that I was climbing an actual mountain. Whoah baby!

It took us 4 hours to reach the top and my overall hike time was 7 hours 30 minutes. The view at top was fabulous. We were above the clouds and were able to see the snowy peaks of Mt. Rainer, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood. The first couple of miles were nice strolling through the trees and then we encountered volcanic rocky terrain. Finally, the last mile was like walking up a sandy beach (2 steps forward, 1 step back).

Some other highlights:
1. Jill peed her pants laughing so hard when Randy accidentally lost his footing coming down the mountain and started to slide on his belly.
2. Karen falling down on her butt three times in a row within a period of two minutes. Jill finally told her to take a break because she was super frustrated.
3. Sliding down the snow on black garbage bags or just our good o'le trusty butts.
4. Jill opening the door on a lady going pee that was bearing it all in her glory.
5. Wilbur at least making it half way. Way to go Dad!
6. Nick feeding a chipmunk so many nuts that his cheeks got super full.
7. Laughing at the last person on the trail who had to smell all the gas from the rest of us.

Here are some pictures I took at the top. I'll post some videos next time.

Everyone busting out their food at the top of the mountain.

This is the view looking inside Mt. Saint Helens. The lava dome is growing and lots of steam was coming out of the holes.

Randy and Aaron taking it easy at the top.

A view of the edge of the crater. As you can see we are above the clouds. You will notice Mt. Adams in the background.

This picture for some reason reminds me of the Goonies movie at the end when they are all sitting on the beach. Did I mention how cold it was at the top. We were absolutely freezing!

Pictured (back row): Ben, Aaron, Randy, Sarah

Pictured (front row): Kerri, Steven, Nick, Jill, Tina, Angie, Karen

Another view on the top of the mountain.

Making a love train with my sisters.

Meeting the Babies

So, before I climbed Mt. Saint Helens I was able to love on all my new nieces and nephews. I couldn't get enough of the little dudes. We loved putting them in the Bumbo seats. Andrea belongs to Sarah, Reese to Karen, Tripp to Randy and Reyn to Ben.

Top Left: Tina, Tripp, Randawg

Top Right: Andrea, Reese, Tripp, Reyn

Middle Left : Tina, Reyn

Middle Right: Tripp, Reese

Bottom Left: Reese

Bottom Right: Tina, Reese, Reyn

Workout Day 37

Activity: Treadmill Running
Time: 15 minutes
Distance: 1.5 miles
Speed: 6.0

Workout Day 36

Last week to get in shape for climbing the Mountain. I guess I better start getting the rest of my gear together.

Activity: Treadmill Running
Time: 30 minutes 30 seconds
Distance: 3.0 miles
Speed: 5.9, 6.0