ONE STEP AT A TIME

Made it up, again, to the rim of Mt. St. Helens. Each time I do it, each time I climb, something revitalized in me, I'm awaken to living again.

Robby and I went up late Sunday afternoon, sleeping in the parking lot at the trailhead. We headed up alittle past 7am -- sleeping in a bit as I heard the poles of some climbers heading out at 5am -- too early for me.

As usual, Robby took more of a quicker pace, a spring I'd call it, for the first few miles, but we finally caught up together at timberline. I told him when we started that it was meant to be more of a Marathan than a sprint, knowing the day would be long.

As we headed up the climbers trail from timberline, we passed by many other climbers, beginning to struggle up the rocky attempts at a trail. As you got up the first "hump', the trail divides as most people seem to take the lower part, and then others, probably unaware of the lower trail, scramble up the the top of Monitor Ridge, where the poles set in piles of rocks, mark the trail.

It seems, as we get above 7000 feet, that's where I start to feel more and more in my element. This is where I need to be, and all is right with the world.
But I couldn't help thinking of Bruce from the earlier climbs, and I related the stories to Robby of Bruce's triumphs over the rocks, and of the triumph of his own spirit.
As we headed up the last 500 feet, I could tell that Robby was running low on energy. I tried to explain the benefits of the rest step, of the slwo and methodical placement of each foot, allowing the body to rest just for a moment. But I han't learned the rest step during my first climb of the mountain. I remember doing as Robby did, sprinting up 10 feet, then needing a few minutes to rest, but doing another short sprint. I didn't learn the rest step until the Rainier climb a few years later. And even then, I remember by second climb of St. Helens, and how I could go a few more feet before taking a break, and the third time, how it seemed so much easier, and now, even though older, how it seemed like I could go forever.
What is climbing? Maybe, 50% conditioning, 25% attitude, and 25% technique?

I made it to the rim 15 minutes before Robby, and took pictures of his triumph to his first summit. At first he was glad he did it, just for the sake of he told people at work he said he would, but I think after some time on the rim, he began to feel the magic of being on a summit, and appreciate the worth and effort it took to arrive there.
...Of Course, then began the Rocky Decent back down....