Short Version:
Recovering from the recovery ride, more bike and body carnage on the Plains of Abraham
Recovering from the recovery ride, more bike and body carnage on the Plains of Abraham
Long Version:
Chatty camping neighbor Brian had set off up the trail before us, carrying an old-school external aluminium-
frame pack full of random stuff for broken-back rehab purposes. We passed him pretty soon after, and rode another 15 minutes up the trail to a campsite next to a deep section of river, with a small beach and a rope swing hanging out over the water. We spent the day lying in the sun reading books, playing card games, eating delicious foods and drinking delicious coffee, and swimming in the river. The swing was imperfect but serviceable, and the fallen tree not far downstream provided an excellent springboard for fancy diving purposes. Fish were a-leaping, squirrels and mice were a-scurrying, tiny frogs were a-sitting still. We didn't really want to leave, but having not brought any camping gear, and with bold plans for an early morning assault on Mt St Helens the next day we headed back to the van, passing along the way a large family-with-extras group who were heading for the spot we'd just left.
We drove to and up onto Mt St Helens, pulling off the main
Forest Service road onto a dirt byw
ay just outside the border of the National Monument restricted-use area. We found a clearing with full picnic table setup and were about to start setting up camp when a Ranger drove by. We thought we were about to be moved along, but he tipped his hat to us and continued on. Sweet!
Spent the evening conducting bi
ke maintenance and prepping for the morning's ride, which meant that when we awoke the next morning we were pretty quickly on our way up the road to the trailhead. Pretty soon we were heading up into Ape Canyon, which was really pretty, and riding really nice. Ofte
n the first half of an out-and-back ride leaves you feeling less-than-enthusiastic about what awaits on the way back down, but the trail surface and gradient of Ape Canyon had us looking forward to the return journey.
A
fter a decent climb, we were out of the trees and working our way up to and across the Plains of Abraha
m, which is a flattish plateau on the eastern shoulder of the main Mt St Helens cone. The surface was volcanic dust with chunks of pumice and lava 
rock, which made for some interesting riding to go with the moonscape / Mt
St Helens short-range views and the occasional long-range spectacular vistas of Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, and non-cone stretches of the Cascade Range. At the far side of the Plains of Abraham we hiked our
bikes down a staircase of sorts, then gathered some pace along the dirt road to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, 
where we picnicked while taking in the views of the blast-eradicated northern face of Mt St Helens, including the lava dome halfway up and a herd of elk running across the face. 
There were clouds rising from the volcano at irregular intervals and from various spots, which was mildly concerning until the Ranger lady told me they were dust clouds from snowmelt-induce
d rockfalls. Which made me much happier than the prospect of another eruption, right up until I saw a "small" rockfall come crashing down the face, fast and without bothering to go around any obstacles.
The ride back across the Plain was faster, and more fun as a result, although it did lead to yet another chunk of lava rock taking out yet another one of my spokes. Sigh. We had many photo stops along the way, and we met lots of cool people, which was great but left us wary of getting up too much speed on the way down through Ape Canyon. I managed to get round the issue to some extent by riding second, and dropping back a long way, which is how I came to be riding so fast at the point where I clipped a tree-root and ended up under my bike with chain-ring teeth embedded in my leg. Sigh.
I was a bit sore to do too much sight-seeing back at the trailhead trail nexus, but we'd spent the whole day looking at fantastic sights, so we weren't too perturbed. The broken spoke was a problem though, as it broke our plan to hook round the eastern side of Mt St Helens and north to Mt Rainier for another day of epic riding.
So, onwards, to a bike shop. Or, maybe...
...to Vancouver!
Chatty camping neighbor Brian had set off up the trail before us, carrying an old-school external aluminium-
frame pack full of random stuff for broken-back rehab purposes. We passed him pretty soon after, and rode another 15 minutes up the trail to a campsite next to a deep section of river, with a small beach and a rope swing hanging out over the water. We spent the day lying in the sun reading books, playing card games, eating delicious foods and drinking delicious coffee, and swimming in the river. The swing was imperfect but serviceable, and the fallen tree not far downstream provided an excellent springboard for fancy diving purposes. Fish were a-leaping, squirrels and mice were a-scurrying, tiny frogs were a-sitting still. We didn't really want to leave, but having not brought any camping gear, and with bold plans for an early morning assault on Mt St Helens the next day we headed back to the van, passing along the way a large family-with-extras group who were heading for the spot we'd just left.We drove to and up onto Mt St Helens, pulling off the main
Forest Service road onto a dirt byw
ay just outside the border of the National Monument restricted-use area. We found a clearing with full picnic table setup and were about to start setting up camp when a Ranger drove by. We thought we were about to be moved along, but he tipped his hat to us and continued on. Sweet!Spent the evening conducting bi
ke maintenance and prepping for the morning's ride, which meant that when we awoke the next morning we were pretty quickly on our way up the road to the trailhead. Pretty soon we were heading up into Ape Canyon, which was really pretty, and riding really nice. Ofte
n the first half of an out-and-back ride leaves you feeling less-than-enthusiastic about what awaits on the way back down, but the trail surface and gradient of Ape Canyon had us looking forward to the return journey.A
fter a decent climb, we were out of the trees and working our way up to and across the Plains of Abraha
m, which is a flattish plateau on the eastern shoulder of the main Mt St Helens cone. The surface was volcanic dust with chunks of pumice and lava 
rock, which made for some interesting riding to go with the moonscape / Mt
St Helens short-range views and the occasional long-range spectacular vistas of Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, and non-cone stretches of the Cascade Range. At the far side of the Plains of Abraham we hiked our
bikes down a staircase of sorts, then gathered some pace along the dirt road to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, 
where we picnicked while taking in the views of the blast-eradicated northern face of Mt St Helens, including the lava dome halfway up and a herd of elk running across the face. 
There were clouds rising from the volcano at irregular intervals and from various spots, which was mildly concerning until the Ranger lady told me they were dust clouds from snowmelt-induce
d rockfalls. Which made me much happier than the prospect of another eruption, right up until I saw a "small" rockfall come crashing down the face, fast and without bothering to go around any obstacles.The ride back across the Plain was faster, and more fun as a result, although it did lead to yet another chunk of lava rock taking out yet another one of my spokes. Sigh. We had many photo stops along the way, and we met lots of cool people, which was great but left us wary of getting up too much speed on the way down through Ape Canyon. I managed to get round the issue to some extent by riding second, and dropping back a long way, which is how I came to be riding so fast at the point where I clipped a tree-root and ended up under my bike with chain-ring teeth embedded in my leg. Sigh.
I was a bit sore to do too much sight-seeing back at the trailhead trail nexus, but we'd spent the whole day looking at fantastic sights, so we weren't too perturbed. The broken spoke was a problem though, as it broke our plan to hook round the eastern side of Mt St Helens and north to Mt Rainier for another day of epic riding.
So, onwards, to a bike shop. Or, maybe...
...to Vancouver!
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