Adventure with the Portland Chapter!
I’ve been an avid backpacker and hiker for over half a decade now; spending as many weekends as I could possibly manage exploring the deep, wooded forests of the slopes of Mount Hood, or splashing in the quiet brooks of the deep, hidden glens of the Columbia River Gorge. I had spent a lot of time looking up at the craggy, Cascade mountain peaks that loom over the Pacific Northwest. I can’t pinpoint exactly when I made the decision that I “needed to climb a ‘real’ mountain”, but over the past months and years, I’ve found the idea often circling to the forefront of my thoughts.
The one wrench in my little plan was that it’s quite a bit easier to find friends for day hikes, or short, overnight backpack trips in to the woods…but the second you mention climbing a volcano and people start looking at you like you might just have a screw loose. (I mean, I probably do. Whatever.)
For me, this trip all started with a post. Maybe more of a plea. I have previously written about my experience with Women Who Explore, and I’ve continued to adventure with these wonderful humans throughout the past months. I figured if there was any other women out there who would be down for this epic adventure, it would be the women in that group.
So I made a Facebook post and crossed my fingers. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the response it would get. In what seemed like a whirlwind, and a stroke of luck with the catastrophic failure of a permit system, myself and eight other women had our permits in hand and were planning our trip to summit Mount Saint Helens (on Earth Day, no less). As the day of the hike approached, it became more and more clear that we would be forced to take the “winter route” up the mountain, adding both elevation and distance to an already difficult trek.
Let me honest. I was nervous. I’m in fairly decent shape from all the trail time I put in, but even going in, I knew this was going to be a whole different beast. And on the Monday before our climb, I woke up with a sinus infection. I thought about calling it more than once as the week wore on, but I just couldn’t bring myself to make that decision. I was going to climb this mountain, I decided, congestion or not.
We set out from the parking lot, just as the sky began to glow before sunrise, the hard snow crunching beneath our boots. It was cold that morning, but beautiful, and the excitement and trepidation among our group was almost palpable. The snow-covered trail wound its way through the silent trees, slowly gaining elevation.
I think my jaw might have dropped when we rounded the corner, and I caught a quick glimpse of our destination through the snow-dusted tree branches. As we shed layers, and added elevation, our group continued our trek, up the snowy trail to Chocolate Falls and across Swift Creek, then gained a small ridge. This is when I really started feeling my congestion and sinus infection, and had depleted most of my electrolytes. Each step felt like a monumental task, my hips burning with every inch gained.
I want to stop right here and say: If it weren’t for the women I was with, I may not have made it to the summit that day. I don’t say that because one of them had the electrolyte tablets that saved my bacon – that was certainly part of it. I say that because having a crew of strong women, who have your back and won’t let you be defeated by your own negative self-talk, is worth more than all the gold and riches in the universe. Being able to overcome the mental aspect of climbing a mountain is made so much easier with a strong tribe conquering it by your side.
We made it to the summit in just under six hours. And my eyes welled with hot tears as I took in the view and accomplishment.
It really is a view, and feeling, like nothing I have ever experienced. Beautiful and empowering. I’m not sure how to describe it besides full. Full of joy, of confidence, of accomplishment and even full of a sense of humility. It is such a juxtaposition to feel so tall and so small in the same moment. We picked the perfect day to summit, or maybe the mountain gods just blessed us, however you want to look at it – but you could see Adams, Rainier, Hood and even Jefferson from our view on top of the world.
Our group celebrated our achievement as we fueled up, changed out of our wet baselayers and snapped a few photos of us at the summit.
And then came the part that I was the most nervous for – glissading. (Word to the wise, it’s not the best idea to YouTube videos of glissading the night before your climb…you’re just going to freak yourself out, I promise.) I’m going to come right out and say that prior to this experience, I had zero real life experience with an ice ax or glissading. I’ve watched countless YouTube videos and read as many articles as I could get my hands on, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Luckily, several of the women in my group have a pretty deep knowledge of mountaineering.
It took about five minutes to really get the hang of glissading, and how to brake, self arrest and steer. Once I got the hang of it, it quickly became my absolute favorite part of the journey. I found myself laughing more than once as the cold air rushed past my face and I slid down the chutes with my friends. We slid down the chutes as far as they would take us, and then continued the last leg of our journey on foot, our feet sinking in the now slushy snow.
I think I was exhausted by the time we had gotten to the car in the packed parking lot. The type of exhausted that sinks in to your bones and permeates your being. It just took a while for me to notice, as I was too busy soaking in the thrill of what I had just accomplished.
I will never forget the first time I climbed a real mountain. Nor will I ever forget the women I conquered her with. In the past three months, I have experienced more empowering, confidence building moments with my Women Who Explore tribe than I ever could have hoped for. And I know there are many more to come.
After all, we’ve set our sights on Mount Adams in July.
**Story from a 2018 Portland Chapter Adventure
About Kristina Marx:
Kristina was born and raised in the beautiful state of Oregon. She is an avid backpacker, hiker, mountaineer and rock climber with an affinity for photography. She loves to travel, and especially loves trying more traditional foods/cuisines while visiting new places.
Having been an ambassador for Women Who Explore since 2018, her favorite part is all the incredible new women she gets to meet on her adventures.
