My First Big Test

My first big test of my physical therapy progress came on August 23rd, 2008, when I joined a group of climbers for treks up Mt. Rainier and Mt. St Helens in Washington State. For the Mt. Rainier hike, we started at 5,800 ft and hiked up to Camp Muir at 10,000ft. Most of the hike was on the glacier, but the slope was not steep enough to require crampons. The weather was on our side: not a cloud in the sky save for the mountain's lenticular clouds. In fact, it was so nice that I hiked in shorts and tee-shirt, but with glacier glasses, sunshade hat and lots of suncream. I traveled slowly to minimise the impact on my calf muscle. Still, I was up and down in 9 hours and still felt fine.

Two days later, the team and I gathered at the trailhead to the Mt. St. Helens crater rim trail. The weather was not as nice with dense fog between 6,000ft and 8,000ft. The hike started through thick rainforest, soon emerging to a giant boulder field where the trail disappeared into a jumbled of oversized building blocks. We clambered over these blocks for the next two hours. It was like climbing the gym's stairmaster, except that the "stairs" were 2-3 ft high. Finally, we punched through the fog and reached the ash slope, which was being swept clean by high winds. I immediately changed from shorts and tee-shirt into full Gortex to avoid hypothermia. For the next three hours, we climbed up the ash field, which was like hiking up a sand dune. We seemed to lose a half-step for each full one we took. Finally, I reached the rim about five hours into the hike.

Watching the interior of St. Helens is an impressive sight. Over the last three years, internal pressures built a lava dome 1,500 ft high. I could see steam rising from hundreds of vents on the dome and hear rocks falling from pressure ridges. It was such a dascinating sight that it was hard for me to leave. I was the first to arrive at the rim, but the last one to leave. I made it down in four hours.

So, I accomplished two major hikes in two days, essentially back-to-back. My left calf exhibited some slight swelling, which calmed down the next day.

I'm back in business.