Wonder and glory are two words that I would use in describing my recent hike up Saint Helens. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you there were moments that I thought I might pass out and die.

We started the trip at 12:00, made it to the base of the mountain and started hiking at around 3:00. Lets just start out by saying I was a little un prepared…I was told to bring a long sleeve shirt, and to my “brilliance” I brought a long sleeve shirt that was white in order to reflect the sun because I would probably be hot…I was wrong. As soon as I got out of my car I was freezing! Lucky for me I had a bag of cloths that I was going to give to Good Will and happened to have a sweater. I looked like I was going to go golfing, or some kind of social formal event, instead of just hiking a mountain. It was epic.

The ascent was a test of character and mind power. Physically most people could make it okay, but your mind really starts to play tricks on you on the way up. After we traversed out of the woods we reached the rocks. Basically big boulders that are very coarse to the touch that you have to strategically choose which ones to climb over in order to conserve the most energy.

We had headlamps to help us see as we made our way to the top in the dark. However one of the best things of that night was the BLUE MOON! Having a full moon right in the sky really helped to showcase the splendor as we made our way up.

Right before the sun started to rise I felt horrid. My mind was telling me to stop, JUST SLEEP PETER! Almost everyone had been up close to 24 hours and already been doing lots of physical exercise. Anyone’s brain would tell him or her to sleep. One of the hikers said latter “I think I fell asleep while I was hiking.” Well to my surprise, right when the sun started to rise I released my weapon of choice…my camera. I was a new man full of energy and spunk. The lighting was amazing and when it comes to getting great pictures I get really excited. My brain was now UP!

Yup thats me! In my epic trash bag that protected me from cold wind, rocks, and dust. Lets not forget it's light weight, and I can use it to slide down the mountain on.