mcmw

Supposedly it’s the law that parents and/or guardians have to wait at the door and watch their children walk to the bus to make sure they’ve made it safely and have not been eaten by a bear! I’m not really sure what the parent or guardian would do if a bear actually did attack a child, but I’d like to go up there and find out.

Well, I went a couple of years ago, but the people I was with were no fun, so I want to go back and check it out again this year. Plus, you can get a fried snickers bar.

This was hands down the most fun thing I’ve done this summer. We hiked 4 miles up to Camp Muir, the base camp for folks that are planning to summit the mountain. The day we went was incredibly clear and we could see Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. It’s a pretty difficult hike, almost 3000 feet in elevation gain over snow in the last 2 miles, plus you get up to 10,000 feet so you’re dealing with the change in the air as well. But it is all worthwhile because you then get to SLED down the mountain. So amazing, like being a kid in Michigan again except I never had to walk back up the hill, I could just keep sledding down.

Some tips if you plan on going:

• Head out to the mountain early. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to the top and a little over 2 hours to get down, but we were moving pretty quickly.
• Wear sunscreen and a lot of it. Trust me, I’m paying for it today with my sunburned legs and funny tan lines.
• Take delicious food like french bread and brie cheese for lunch at the top. And lots of water, of course.
• Take something to sled down on. We had giant trash bags that worked really well, but I also saw people with those little sleds that roll up and pizza pans.
• Consider bringing an extra pair of pants or shorts. I didn’t and mine were soaking wet, but they had more or less dried completely by the time we reached the bottom of the mountain, so it’s not absolutely necessary.