Crumpet hikes Mount St Helens

Team Mia went hiking again - this time Mount St Helens. Yes, the active volcano that blew up in 1981 and has been spewing ash & lava this past year.

It's only about a 2 hour drive from Seattle to the visitot's center, then another 40 miles up to the 2 ranger stations on ridges. Both stations were re-built after being destroyed during the last eruption. The information on display were excellent & interesting, including samples of hollowed out trees with the top side either burnt off or shredded by a storm of ''rocks & boulder'' up to 800 miles per hour. A wall panel of survivor stories as well as final radio transmissions of those who didn' make it was riveting. Given this is the Pacific Northwest naturally you can get a latte on top of the mountain.

We took a relatively easy hike, although there were some narrow spots with a vertical drop a la Lord of the Rings. This was the first time we used the baby back pack (courtesy of Jim, Jenni & Nathan). The extra 18 lbs were OK at first, but after a few miles, well, my back started to kill. Baby Crumpet handled the hike with her usual aplomb by, as usual, falling asleep.