My whole life didn't race through my mind as I flew over the handlebars onto the Plains of Abraham, but if the hulking volcano over my right shoulder could talk, it probably would have let out a deep baritone laugh and bellowed, "Another silly fool!"
I felt foolish for certain while brushing off the ash after a surprisingly soft, shoulder-first landing into a foot-deep trough of pumice nuggets.
The harmless little spill was an appropriately humbling introduction to fat-tire cycling in the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, an extraordinary but fairly challenging place to ride. You pedal through rocky, moonscapelike debris-flow barrens, spooky "ghost tree" groves, blown-down forests as well as intact old growth, and take in spectacular views of four Cascade Range volcanoes.
This is a mountain that killed 57 people while losing 1,300 feet of its top on May 18, 1980, and while riding here you feel its looming, almost living presence.
"It's mind-boggling," says Brian Mahon, an avid rider, hiker, climber and unofficial mountain-biking ambassador of the monument. "I've never seen a place that has the diversity that Mount St. Helens has. It is truly Shangri-La for people who love to ride a mountain bike."
"Pumice headers," I learned, are relatively common. The detritus of the eruption's massive dislocation of rock and earth litter these trails. You hit patches of popcorn-size pumice that make your wheels wiggle like a worm on a hot rock. You must weave through fields of lava rock and boulders that require needle-threading biking skills.
You'll find steep descents and sharp, rocky switchbacks, climbs along knife-edged ridges dusted with ash and a spot or two where the side drops precipitously into deep, dark places with names like the Ape Canyon.
At the same time, the monument and surrounding areas of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest offer a few mellow trails where novice riders can spin their wheels amid gorgeous views of the volcano, wildflower fields, virgin forests and ancient lava flows.
"People say the best mountain biking is in Colorado, but there is no ultimate (area)," says Harry Spehar, a product developer for Klein bicycles. He lives near company headquarters in Madison, Wis., but makes frequent trips to its plant in Centralia and has ridden all over.
"When I came here, I was blown away. You've got the Lewis River roller coaster, the Souixon trail, Ape Canyon -- this area is a jewel. You can have a backcountry riding experience with few people around. That's what mountain biking is about, I would say."
Earlier this month I joined Mahon, Spehar and several friends for a ride at St. Helens.
We first pedaled what most consider the premier ride in the monument, the Plains of Abraham Trail (No. 216) and Ape Canyon Trail (No. 234), which are typically linked into a 11.5-mile straight through ride, or an out-and-back ride of about 24 miles.
The ride traverses the eastern side of the volcano's blast zone, from the blown-down forests along Windy Ridge onto the massive mudflow on the volcano's east side, now called the Plains of Abraham. On the south end, it follows a ridge of intact old-growth forest just outside the blast zone but adjacent to the seven-mile-long southeasterly mudflow known as the Lahar.
The most spectacular aspect of this ride is the startling contrasts. You pedal abruptly from a broad, treeless, gray-brown plain of pumice and lava rocks hurled by the eruption - although brightened by wildflowers such as phlox and Indian paintbrush - into the sweet scent of a strip of stately old trees and verdant underbrush that somehow escaped the devastation.
St. Helens is best ridden on a clear day, because of the in-your-face views of the volcano, including about as close-up a look at the maw of the crater and the lava dome as you can get, short of climbing to the crater's rim. At various points on the ride, you'll also spot mounts Adams, Rainier and Hood, completing a volcano grand slam.
Later we rode an easier and very scenic three-mile stretch of the Toutle Trail (No. 238) on the volcano's intact southwest side, between the Blue Lake and Redrock Pass trailheads. This trail is suitable for beginners, although it is rocky and rough in the first half-mile from Blue Lake Trailhead.
After that it crosses a dry streambed, enters lovely old-growth forest of mixed fir and lodgepole pine and then crosses an ancient mudflow now covered by bear grass and other shrubs and brush. Just before reaching the Redrock Pass Trailhead, it crosses a 2,000-year-old flow of black lava, above which looms the gray and white presence of the volcano.
Mahon, who used to operate Volcano View Mountain Bike Tours and continues to ride around the mountain regularly, said there are about 650 miles of trails open to riding in the monument, and more just outside. While Ape Canyon and the Plains of Abraham are popular on weekends, the entire area is often lonely on weekdays. And on weekends, it's not hard to find uncrowded trails.
"That's the beauty of this area," Mahon said. "If I want to get away from people, there are places to go. It's always a challenge up on Mount St. Helens, which I refer to as `my mountain.' It's just beautiful."
The Lewis River Trail (No. 31) south of the volcano has become popular because of its huge old trees and waterfalls. The nearby Souixon - pronounced `Soo-sawn' - Trail (No. 130) just outside the monument is seeing increased riding and offers a similar forest/waterfall ambience. The Boundary Trail (No. 1), which basically stretches from Mount Adams to Mount St. Helens, sees little riding use and could handle more.
While the number of mountain bikers remains fairly low on monument trails - only about half of which are open to riding - the potential exists for conflicts with hikers and horse riders.
"We know we've got rapidly increasing bike use on the Ape Canyon Trail, so there is the potential for significant conflict," says Hans Castron, climbing and trails ranger for the monument. "So far it has not been realized."
Horse riding is popular in the monument, especially on the mountain's southwest side near Kalama Horse Camp.
Most conscientious bike riders take pains to act courteously when hikers or horse riders are encountered. Mahon says it is best to dismount when nearing horse riders, and to put the animals at ease by talking softly. He suggests that bike riders dismount and ask the horse riders how they would like to pass.
On our ride, I also dismounted when approaching hikers, except for one case where the trail was plenty wide.
Another concern when riding St. Helens is your own safety.
A lot of the riding is technical, rocky, ashy, rooty stuff. One of the riders in our party ripped off his derailleur after loose dirt forced him off the trail into brush and sticks. Two of us took headers. Amazingly, no one got a flat.
It almost goes without saying that a helmet is essential. And you best be prepared with a patch kit or even a spare inner tube, plenty of food, water and warm clothing, map and compass. There is a reason they call it Windy Ridge, and places like the Plains of Abraham are wide open and exposed.
"On the west side of the Cascades, we like to think of it as a lush green setting," says Castron. "But the reality is there are parts of the blast zone that - particularly in July and August - easily feel like you're in Death Valley. Be prepared for that, and also be cautious and try to extend basic courtesy to other trail users."
Or risk the chance that your whole life may pass through your mind as the hulk of a volcano watches.
Notes on biking Mount St. Helens
There is no single authoritative source on the topic, but several resources are helpful:
The U.S. Forest Service's Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument map, available at visitors centers in the monument or from the Northwest Interpretive Association (NWIA), by calling 360-274-2125.
"Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Trail Guide" (NWIA, 144 pages, $7.95). You can get this one by calling the association, too.
"A Complete Guide: Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument" by Klindt Vielbig (The Mountaineers, 158 pages, $12.95). Available from The Mountaineers as well as the NWIA.
"Mountain Bike! Southwest Washington" by John Zilly (Sasquatch, 208 pages, $15.95) and "Washington Mountain Bike!" by Alan Bennett and Chris and Laurie Leman, (Menasha Press, 413 pages, $15.95).
The Gifford Pinchot National Forest's Mount St. Helens Monument Web site at www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm. Monument headquarters also provides information. Call 360-247-3900.
Byman's Bikes in Longview is a good source for information on trail conditions in the monument. Call 360-577-4481.