Mt. Margaret Backcountry

Hike in: 

This is not my favorite type of story to tell. We set out with a plan to do a loop that included going across Whittier Ridge but due to trail conditions and impending weather we were unable to reach our reserved campsite for the evening and had to make do with what was available. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me back up…

I woke up on Saturday morning to a glorious day in Everett. The sun was out. The house was warm. Nikolai was cuddling with me in one of his cuter, less intrusive ways. All seamed right in the world. 

I made the mistake of looking at my phone to see a rather dismal weather forecast for the Mount Saint Helens area. Our destination for the weekend. Rain later today, thunder and lightning tomorrow. The works. But we said we were going to go so with a little bit of feet dragging we got our stuff together, made sure Niko had enough food and water and left the safety of our house to meet up with J+H before heading south. 

The entire 2.5 hour drive down to the trailhead  it was rather sunny but I still felt some dread looking towards the cratered volcano. 

We got to the trailhead around 1300 (with scattered wisps and no chance of rain... yet) and after some food organization we started up the trail. That is when I was hit with the hard reality that I have not been consistently doing any form of exercise for the last 6 months. After running a bunch in 2020, the new year brought a more sedentary Izzy out to play and though I probably needed this season to rest... This wake-up call was not a fun one. 

In the first 10 minutes I was already out of breath and feeling like I was dying. I felt even worse knowing I was slowing everyone else down. I am usually pretty slow but this was a whole new low... speed even for me. 

After I got myself out of my own head and came to terms with the fact that this hike wasn’t going to be what used to be my norm I was able to appreciate the scenery we were walking through. Because this trail isn’t right up next to Mt. St. Helens like the circumnavigating trail I did last summer we were able to see the blasted out side the whole time. We were even able to see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams at the same time as well. It was gorgeous even though we could no longer see blue skies above us, the grey gloomy clouds above matched the vibe the blast zone was giving off as well. 

After a bunch of manageable snow traverses we finally came to one that made us pause and reevaluate the rest of our trip. This traverse was accompanied by an almost immediate drop off and even if we had tried to cross higher it would have been pretty icy too. Plus at least two of the four of us only had minimal traction gear and none of us had crampons. 

A and J went up higher to see if it was even possible to cross but reported back that even if we were to cross this stretch of snow, where we wanted to go after was also covered in snow. It had also started to drizzle at this point and so we made a quick trip to the top of a knob that is called The Dome that was towering over the snowy slope that stopped us from continuing, looked around for a sufficient spot to set up the tents for the night and made a bee line there before it started to rain even harder.

We started setting up camp right as the rain started coming down and caused everyone’s moods to spiral significantly. Setting up a tent in the rain is not great as I have probably said on here numerous times. 

A and I got our tent up as quickly as possible and then sequestered ourselves in. Ideally we wouldn’t have needed to leave the test until we started to pack up in the morning but of course I had to venture out into the torrential downpour to go pee. I was unwilling to try using the restroom in the vestibule right next to A’s face.

I have been back inside warm and mostly dry for about an hour and have since written this. I should probably try to sleep but the rain and wind are so incredibly loud and I forgot my earplugs. I cannot believe A is just conked out like nothing is happening. 

Hopefully, I will be able to update this tomorrow because that would mean we survived the night and made it back to the car and ultimately home. 

Hike out:

Unsurprisingly. We didn’t get washed or blown away last night which is always my biggest fear. Equally unsurprisingly, I didn’t sleep well. It took me ages to fall asleep with the rain pattering being so inconsistent all night. Going from what might come out of a white noise machine to the sound of a fire hose hitting the roof of a burning house (I don’t actually know what that sounds like but unless I can come up with a better example it will stay). Here is a recording of what it sounded like (though this isn’t nearly as loud as in person):

At some point I did fall asleep for a little while but was awake again starting at 0445 when A’s alarm went off. I laid there listening to the birds chirp, thinking about how irrational I get when it comes to camping in the wind and rain and wondered when everyone else was going to wake up.

A finally woke up enough for me to point out that the rain had momentarily stopped and that maybe packing up before it started to pour again would be advantageous (the forecasted thunderstorm at the forefront of my mind). By the time everyone was awake it had started to drizzle again but didn’t look like it would get any worse for the time being. While A was making everyone minus me coffee, we got to see the curtain of fog that hung around us open and close, unveiling part of Spirit Lake to show us that the wind last night was so strong it had moved a bunch of the logs to a different area than they were the day before.

To be extra cautious, most of us put on extra traction, in my case my micro-spikes, so we wouldn’t have any unexpected sliding on our way back across the now extra wet snow. This was likely overkill but it was nice to have that peace of mind, especially since we were already tired from the day before and some of us… were hiking on less than three hours of sleep.

Our journey back to the car was uneventful in the best ways. It felt like our snow travel was quicker, I didn’t feel like the unhealthy blob I had yesterday and once we were got through the majority of the snow travel we literally walked out of the fog and straight into a view of Mt. St. Helens.

We saw a bunch of fresh elk tracks along our route, some covering our footprints from yesterday. Just another illustration of just how fragile humans are. While we were cowering in our tents, complaining about the little drips of water not warded off by the rainfly, these guys are walking around and sleeping in the rain like its nothing.

About halfway back we stopped in a true break in the rain to have some snacks and more coffee. Shortly after our snack break, J spotted an elk up on the side of hill we were walking under. Shortly after that we passed two hikers that had made their way up that morning.

At this point wet socks were getting the best of all of us and we made our way, rather quickly, the short rest of the way back to the truck and got there just as the rain really started to come down again. Although the weather wasn’t ideal, we were never hiking in the heavy rain and I consider that a win.

Despite the fact that we did not achieve everything we set out to do on this trip, we were still able to enjoy a weekend in good company on a trail that, at least I had never been on AND we got to see Mt. St. Helens in all her destructive beauty. Plus, now we have a reason to come back to the Mt. Margaret backcountry when the snow has cleared a bit more (we are thinking August but July would probably be okay too).

Click to see route details