Climbing mother Helens...

This is Jon. Dad, Jerrod and I have always enjoyed a good hike or climb together. It's just something we've done since way back in the day. This year, we decided to climb Mt. St. Helens again. Dad and I climbed it in 1995, Jerrod made it a trio in 1996. So, it's been 14 years since we've seen Helens this up close and personal. We thought we had a good memory of 14 years ago. We knew the mountain isn't something that's conquered, but it lets us climb it. But we forgot how strenuous the ascent really was.

Due to schedule conflicts and such, we couldn't camp out at the base of Mt. St. Helens. So instead, we had to leave at 3:00 AM. Dad and Jerrod look unusually chipper at this point of the day.

At the base: Me taking a photo of Jerrod...who is taking a photo of Dad.

The first mile is relatively nice. Easy, well groomed trail through the trees. Dad leading the hike.

Me and Jerrod, bringing up the rear.

This is pretty much where it gets tough. Dad, Jerrod and I are near the treeline of Mt. St. Helens, taking a quick break to get ready for the big push up hill. And when I say uphill, I mean up rock walls, steep inclines and a lot of mental anguish.

Jerrod and I at the treeline where this sign says you must have a climber's pass to go any further. Yeah we make it look good. Right after this photo is taken, Dad said that we could set the pace if we wanted to. Jerrod said, "I'll give it a try." Within five minutes, I didn't see him again. I'm proud of that dude. He was strong and ready for this.

First of at least four major rock walls we had to scale. To give some perspective, those trees are around 20 feet tall.

This is all part of Monitor Ridge.

A view of much of the incline we dealt with when we weren't on rocks. Once we got to a certain elevation, the clouds parted and it was picture perfect.

You can barely see the summit here. I have closer photos of the summit, but this is the clearest pic. I would say around 500 vertical feet from the summit, I had to stop. Very disappointing. Jerrod, was in a groove and Dad was pulling away from me. Very happy for them, but pretty ticked off with myself. So Jerrod and I have been to the top twice, and the self proclaimed "Old Man" has been up there three times.

On the way home, we stopped by an old favorite, Mrs. Beesley's, a burger joint in Vader, Washington. We've been going here ever since I can remember and probably before that, too. While nibbling on bites of burgers and grilled onions, we discussed our need to lower cholesterol. Another conversation centered around an upcoming wedding, where Dad said, "All I need to do is show up and look good. That's how I roll." I can't end this blog post any better.