ASH (Adams, St. Helens, and Hood)
Summit and circumnavigate the Guardians of the Columbia

Last year, I ran the Bigfoot 100k. This brought my attention to the Bigfoot 200 mile race. I followed it in real time. Richard Kresser won and set the course record. I had to look this guy up and discovered the RASH. That is mountains Rainier, Adams, St. Helens, and Hood; summited and circumnavigated back-to-back in under one week. It was an astounding feat which he performed just before his exceptional performance at the Bigfoot 200. I was amazed, and more importantly, inspired.
The idea of summiting and circumnavigating a mountain appealed to me. I had a spot of mountaineering experience and had gone around the Timberline Trail. I knew for sure I wanted to at least knock out St. Helens in 2017. Some months went by. I furthered my fitness and backcountry skills and signed up for the Plain 100 miler. I’ll be running it in September. It’s a “graduate level” 100 miler, but it will be my first.
I decided that I was going to make summiting and circumnavigating the three volcanoes closest to Portland my summer training project. I lacked the skill and experience to execute it at the time, but was confident I would get there. Rainier is too far out of my depth as a mountaineer, and out of range for someone trying to maximize family time; while working full time and getting in all this training. So the “ASH” was born. It’s a watered down version of the “RASH”, but conveniently appropriate given the relationship between volcanoes and, well… ash. Attempting to balance time also meant separating each mission by a couple weeks and not getting to do them in acronymical order.
I met Scotty Strain, Estacada’s other mountain ultra trail runner, by way of Strava and Facebook (before I shunned Facebook). When there are really only two people with a very specific hobby in a small town, you’re bound to meet. There is a chasm of mountaineering talent and experience between us two. We’ve started training together, and I asked for his help in mentoring me towards the completion of this project. He took me up Hood for my first time back in April, and has been a wealth of knowledge and guidance in ramping up my backcountry acumen.
I ran into Kresser when he was working at the first aid station at the Bigfoot 100k, and followed up with him via email. The information, planning, and encouragement from our exchange added momentum and clarity to the realization of ASH. I spent hours in Google Earth VR flying the courses, which is a truly effective way of rehearsing navigation into memory. By early May, I had my routes and dates ready to go.
ASH is going to happen. I’m going to knock out the giant of three first on July 19. Then St Helens two weeks later on August 8, and Adams on August 24. All weather permitting, of course.
Stay tuned and wish me luck.
