The two places I feel closest to God are at the beach and on top of mountains. So, when my friend asked if I would like to climb Mt. Saint Helens and snowboard down, I could not resist the offer.
We first traveled to his parents house to drop off boxes and spend the night. I got to shoot a shot gun for the first time in my life! (Because I am left eye dominant and right handed, I had a hard time at first aiming. This was soon remedied and I blasted the bajeezes out of the target!)
The next day we drove to Portland, went to lunch with his sister and uncle, walked along the river and watched a rail jam in downtown; all prior to leaving for the mountain. On the way to camp we (group of five mountain enthusiasts) stopped at the near-by reservoir to jump from a rope swing. 
After less than 6hrs of sleep, we started our ascension of the mountain. Five hours later, we reached the summit! The clarity of weather made it possible to north to the Olympic mountains and south to Mt. Washington. It was incredible! Saint Helens was definitely alive, sulfur fumes billowed from her crater- totally adding to the craziness of this mountain adventure. Snowboarding down was a bit of a challenge for me. I had never been back country snowboarding or on a board with a backpack before. -Even with all my slushy biffs, I totally had a blast and definitely now, prefer the speedy descent over the regular hike down. We some guys going down in garbage bags... I might opt for this lighter option next time ;)
20 plus hours awake, we arrived back in Klamath exhausted but enthused about our accomplishment. Thanks for the invite Nate. It was a blast!
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