This past Sunday was an unusually humid and rainy day for a Seattle Summer. It was reminiscent of springs during my childhood, and I was reminded why I was much lazier when I was younger. Luckily, due to the recent release of Harry Potter, I wasn’t the only one who was lazy…
I used the time to take some pics which are now up on my brand new Flickr profile. I’m hoping that not having to manage the pages will help me stay more prolific with the photos.
I went on a hike up to the Mount St. Helen’s summit yesterday. Though we were cursed with extremely poor conditions, the hike was extremely enjoyable. Most of the ascent and descent involves navigating volcanic boulders and rocks, and the fog, in fact, added to the spookiness of the terrain. Unfortunately, the low visibility downgraded actually the exercise of reaching the summit to almost pointless. Despite that, the interesting nature of the hike made it well worth it.
Though the climb was challenging to say the least, I had overestimated the difficulty of the climb. I was over-prepared in the way of food, water, and gear, but I was under-prepared for the changes in temperature as we ascended. From the presence of sleet and freezing rain, I believe it was below freezing at the summit. If you are interested in getting the details of the climb and my recommendations for what to pack, please comment, and I’ll add an additional post.
At one point halfway down the mountain, the sky opened up just a little bit, and we finally got an idea of the immense beauty of the place. Needless to say, I would like to return on a more cheerful day and do it again.
Here are a selection of the pictures which do not capture the eerie beauty of the place.