Mount St. Helens

John and I climbed Mount St. Helens on Thursday with our friends Allison Porter, Andy Larsen, Kris Gibson, and Kathryn Osborne.  We spent the night in Cougar and got on the trail at 7am.  We hiked through the forest for 2.5 miles (10% avg grade), then picked our way through boulders for about 2 miles (20% grade), then went straight up through the ash for about a mile (30% grade).  The rim was very narrow and windy and snowy but offered an amazing view of Mount Rainier, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams.  It took 4 hours up and 3.5 hours down including stops.  We could see the new mountain growing in the crater through the steam.  What a great trip!