Adventure, Death & A Mother’s Day Tradition: Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Summary

National Park After Dark
Episode: Adventure, Death & A Mother’s Day Tradition: Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Release Date: May 10, 2026
Hosts: Danielle & Cassie

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Episode Overview

In this episode released specially for Mother's Day, Danielle and Cassie delve into the fascinating tradition of climbing Mount St. Helens in a dress to honor mothers—and the remarkable woman who started it, Kathy Phibs. The episode explores global Mother's Day customs, recounts the powerful story of Kathy’s adventures and tragic end, and celebrates the unsung legacy of pioneering women mountaineers in the Pacific Northwest. Listeners are encouraged to find inspiration in these stories and perhaps start a new tradition of their own—whether on a volcano or a local trail.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Global Traditions of Mother’s Day

• Timeframe: 00:01 – 04:22
• Cassie opens by sharing interesting Mother’s Day celebrations worldwide:
  • Ethiopia: A 3-day feast, singing, dancing, and family reunions (00:15).
  • India: Ten-day festival for the mother goddess Durja, emphasizing the mother as both creator and protector (00:37).
  • Peru: Weeklong celebration with free admission for mothers, grave decorations for those passed (01:00).
  • Britain: Mothering Sunday & wild violets for mothers (01:30).
  • United States: Anna Jarvis’s campaign for Mother's Day, the carnation’s symbolism, and the “Hallmark holiday” critique (02:00).
  • Introduction to the Mount St. Helens tradition: Kathy Phibs' iconic, dress-clad climb in 1987 (02:37-03:14), now a vibrant outdoor custom.

2. Is Mount St. Helens a National Park?

• Timeframe: 05:01 – 08:44
• Danielle and Cassie debate and clarify (with a bit of an identity crisis) that Mount St. Helens is a National Volcanic Monument, managed by the US Forest Service—not a National Park.
  • “This place feels like a national park, and it’s not a national park.” – Danielle (06:41)
• The monument protects the site for scientific study, especially after its cataclysmic eruption.

3. Origins of the Mother’s Day Dress-Climbing Tradition

• Timeframe: 08:51 – 15:09
• The unique tradition started in 1987 when Kathy Phibs skied up St. Helens in a red dress and white pillbox hat; since then, hundreds climb the volcano on Mother’s Day in dresses (09:27-09:58).
• The tradition expanded, with caps on permits due to popularity and environmental concerns (up to 971 permits pre-2014).
• Kathy Phibs’ legacy:
  • Supported women climbers and built LGBTQ-friendly climbing communities.
  • Led all-women ascents of major peaks (Denali, Andes, Himalayas).

4. The 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens

• Timeframe: 15:09 – 21:00
• Recount of the 1980 eruption’s warning signs, devastation, and ecological aftermath (15:13-16:55).
• Personal memories: Danielle and Cassie share their love for the area and its post-eruption resurgence.
  • “To see something like that in your lifetime … just thinking there’s no way that I’m going to see this come back, and you can, you have, you know, you can see that.” – Danielle (19:35)

5. Kathy Phibs: Climber, Community Builder, Trailblazer

• Timeframe: 23:07 – 39:58
• Kathy’s background:
  • First summit of Mount St. Helens as a determined high school senior, despite tragedy (23:24).
  • Rapid escalation to high-level expeditions (Andes, Bolivia, Denali, Himalayas).
  • Co-founded Women's Climbers Northwest—safe community for women and LGBTQ climbers.
• Tackling sexism:
  • Male hikers questioning, “Are you girls alone?” (25:43).
  • “We’re with each other.” – Women Climbers Northwest (25:46)
• Ms. Dish, Kathy’s Victorian alter ego, offered humorous, pointed commentary on mountaineering culture through club newsletters (30:16-36:16).
  • “She leaned fully into the voice—writing with humor, flair, and a bit of theatrics.” – Cassie (36:27)
• Climbing as celebration:
  • Costumes, gourmet summit meals, and pink flamingos, all with a message:
    • “We wanted to say, yes, we’re women, and we’re going to make fun of what you think we should be. And we’re going to be strong in pearls. We’re going to be strong in a dress.” – Kristin Lane (37:54)

6. The First Mother’s Day Climb & Its Evolution

• Timeframe: 38:17 – 40:02
• In 1987, after federal restrictions lifted, Kathy and the Women Climbers Northwest held the first “dress climb” on Mount St. Helens for Mother’s Day, unintentionally launching a now-beloved tradition.

7. Honoring the First Women Climbers of Rainier & Beyond

• Timeframe: 41:56 – 45:01
• The 1890 ascent of Rainier by schoolteacher Faye Fuehler (41:56).
  • Faye’s determination: “Words cannot describe the scenery and beauty. How could they speak for the soul?” (43:30)
• Women pioneers: climbing guides, trailblazers, advocates for public lands—all contributing to Northwest mountaineering legacy.

8. Kathy Phibs’ Tragic Final Climb

• Timeframe: 46:20 – 51:45
• In 1990, Kathy and friend Hope Barnes died after a fall and hypothermia on Dragontail Peak.
• “She died trying. I know she died trying to save herself and her friend.” – Kristen Lane (50:32)
• Both women remembered as exceptionally accomplished and brave, part of a “long lineage of fierce, joyful, and deeply committed women mountaineers of the Pacific Northwest.” – Cassie (52:07)

9. Legacy: The Mother’s Day Tradition Lives On

• Timeframe: 52:07 – 54:15
• Hundreds continue to climb Mount St. Helens each Mother’s Day, proudly sporting dresses of every kind.
  • “People layer [the dresses] over their usual climbing gear so you’ll see stiff boots, backpacks, ice axes, and then a dress blowing in the wind.” – Cassie (52:43)
• At its heart, the tradition honors motherhood, female adventurers past and present, and the inclusive, joyful spirit Kathy inspired.

10. Reflection & Call to Action

• Timeframe: 54:31 – 59:15
• Danielle and Cassie encourage listeners to join the tradition, share photos, or celebrate mothers in their own adventurous ways.
  • “This Mother's Day, wherever you are, put on your kitschiest gown and your sparkliest hat and climb to the top of that mountain. It's an American tradition.” – Cassie (53:07)
• Humorous segment discussing what outfits they’d wear for a Mother’s Day climb (56:03).
• Closing with favorite hikes and hopes for more exploration together (58:14–59:34).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Women Climbing in Dresses:

  • “We’re going to be strong in pearls. We’re going to be strong in a dress.” – Kristin Lane, 37:56
  • “At its core, it’s simple. People climb to honor their moms—whether that’s calling home from the summit, raising a toast, or just taking a moment to think about the people who got them there in the first place.” – Cassie, 52:47

• On Mount St. Helens’ Wild Energy:

  • “I absolutely am in love with Mount St. Helens ... it is so unique and so special afterwards. And I just have so many really special memories there.” – Danielle, 18:28

• On Pioneering Women:

  • “There are places to climb and I wanted to teach other women the joy of climbing.” – Alma Wagon, 43:36
  • “Women have always been a part of the American naturalist tradition.” – Cassie, 44:22

• On Kathy Phibs' Legacy:

  • “There's no place they would have rather died. I'm sad they died, but they were people who really loved the mountains.” – Lauren Smith, 51:27

• On the Legitimacy of the Tradition:

  • “It's a tribute, not only just to moms but to women. And that's why it's important not to lose the memory of Kathy Fibs, aka Ms. Dish...” – Cassie, 53:04

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Important Timestamps

• Global Mother’s Day Traditions: 00:01–04:22
• Mount St. Helens' Monument Status Debate: 05:01–08:44
• History & Impact of the Mother's Day Climb Tradition: 08:51–15:09
• 1980 Eruption Recap & Its Aftermath: 15:09–21:00
• Kathy Phibs' Biography & Community Legacy: 23:07–39:58
• First Rainier Ascent by a Woman: 41:56–45:01
• Kathy and Hope’s Final Climb: 46:20–51:45
• Carrying on the Mother’s Day Climb: 52:07–54:15
• How Listeners Can Join & Favorite Hikes Chat: 54:31–59:34

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Tone & Style

• Informal, engaging, and deeply personal, with warmth, humor, and reverence for the women at the heart of the story.
• The hosts maintain an inclusive, encouraging energy, blending tales of adventure, feminist history, and authentic emotional connection.

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a celebration of the adventurous spirit of women—past and present. By illuminating the history, tradition, and personal stories tied to Mount St. Helens and Mother’s Day, Danielle and Cassie encourage listeners to participate in the outdoors with meaning, courage, and joy. Whether you’re honoring a mother, a mentor, or your own sense of adventure, the tradition described in this episode offers inspiration—and a reason to put on that dress, lace up your hiking boots, and make the mountains your own.

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Call to Action

• Share your own Mother's Day hike photos and traditions with the hosts.
• Find a way to honor the trailblazing women in your life—whether on a volcano, a local hill, or simply by celebrating the outdoors together.

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“Put on your kitschiest gown and your sparkliest hat and climb to the top of that mountain. It's an American tradition.” – Cassie, 53:07

Transcript

[Cassie]

It's now the month of May, and that means love for your mom is in the air. Countries around the world celebrate mothers. And when you start digging into the traditions, it's really interesting how different cultures choose to honor motherhood and how elaborate some of these celebrations can be. Like Ethiopia, they celebrate their moms for three days straight with lamb feasts, singing and dancing in a festival, Families travel home to reunite after the rainy season, sing, sons bring ingredients, daughters prepare the meals. And everything centers around honoring mothers. Mothers and daughters even slather their faces and chests with butter, which might sound odd, but is actually a tradition tied to nourishment, care and beauty, things traditionally associated with the roles of mothers in the home. India places a strong cultural emphasis on motherhood. They celebrate the return of the divine mother goddess Durja with a 10 day festival where everyone decorates their home, shares gifts and feasts. The festival is all about celebrating reunions, children and mothers, husbands and wives, and the idea of a mother as both a creator and a protector. Someone who nurtures life, but will also destroy anything that threatens it. Peru is right behind with a week long celebration for their mothers. Museums and art galleries let moms in for free. And if your mom has passed, you still celebrate her by decorating her grave with flowers and balloons. Britain has celebrated mothers for centuries with a festival called Mothering Sunday, where people return to their mother church on the fourth Sunday of Lent and celebrate both the Virgin Mary and their own mothers. Families share a roast lamb feast and all the moms are declared the queen of the feast. Most of the world associates carnations with Mother's Day, but in Britain, children traditionally pick wild violets to bring home. In the United States, a woman named Anna Jarvis lobbied to have a holiday officially declared to celebrate mothers. She started the campaign in memory of her own mom, a Civil War era activist. Anna handed out 500 white carnations at her mom's memorial service, which is how the flower became associated with Mother's Day. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson made it official. Ironically, Anna quickly grew to hate how commercialized it became. She called it a Hallmark holiday and even tried to abolish the very thing she created. But one woman found a way to re energize the holiday, almost accidentally. On Mother's Day in 1987, Kathy Phibs skied up Mount St. Helens wearing a red chiffon dress and a white pillbox hat in honor of the women mountaineers who came before her. When a full color photo of her smiling, her gown rippling in the alpine Wind hit the front page at the Seattle Times. The idea stuck. Now it's a Mother's Day tradition for mountain lovers everywhere. Women and men throw on a dress, climb a mountain and shout, happy Mother's Day. Welcome to National Park After Dark.

[Danielle]

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to National Park After Dark. My name's Danielle.

[Cassie]

I'm Cassie. Happy Mother's Day.

[Unspecified Female Host]

This is, if you're listening, on the day that this comes out, it is

[Cassie]

Mother's Day because we're releasing a day early. Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Usually our episodes come out on Monday, but I decided to have this one

[Cassie]

come out on Sunday so we could celebrate.

[Danielle]

Okay, well, Happy Mom's Day, moms out there in my mom especially.

[Cassie]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Thanks for doing your thing. And now I'm here, you know. Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Thanks for birthing me, keeping me alive, all the things.

[Cassie]

Giving me a kidney.

[Danielle]

Yeah. Your mom.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Good stuff. My mom's done, really. The extra she's done.

[Danielle]

She's gotten above and beyond.

[Unspecified Female Host]

She truly has.

[Danielle]

She gave you life. She saved your life.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Sustained your life, you know.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. All the things.

[Danielle]

And I want to personally thank her for doing that because otherwise I wouldn't have a business.

[Unspecified Female Host]

That's true. Or a friend.

[Danielle]

Yes, of course.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Of course. Well, I thought that this would be a fun episode to do for Mother's Day, and it is. We're going to be talking all about this tradition that is on Mount St.

[Cassie]

Helens that I actually didn't really know about, but I guess is kind of a big deal.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And I wanted to talk about the

[Cassie]

woman behind it and the history.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And we're really going to be diving. This is a Girls Girls episode today and it's tied to Mother's Day and obviously tied to this tradition. And I just really wanted to cover it.

[Danielle]

Yay. I'm excited we're doing Mount St. Helens because I think we've only done it one other time before. Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Mount St. Helens is, I feel like this would be a good question for people is where is a place that

[Cassie]

you have gone that you feel like

[Unspecified Female Host]

should be a national park but is not a national park. And Mount St. Helens is the most national park looking place I've ever been that is like, very obviously not a national park and is managed by the US Forest Service?

[Danielle]

I think that's incorrect.

[Unspecified Female Host]

No, it isn't. I looked it up many times. It's not.

[Danielle]

Mount St. Helens is not a national monument.

[Unspecified Female Host]

No. It's a national volcanic monument managed by the US Forest Service. It's not part of the NPS system at all.

[Danielle]

Where did I Go. Where have I been?

[Unspecified Female Host]

That's where you've been.

[Danielle]

I very vividly remember going into, like, visitor centers.

[Unspecified Female Host]

A visitor center. I know I went with with you. And I have the same memory of going into a big, I thought national park site visitor center, but it's not. It's a national forest visitor center. I swear.

[Danielle]

Look, not that we're shaming that. I just.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I'm shocked.

[Danielle]

What is that thing that you remember things differently. That the mandala effect or something?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, but we both remember it differently. For some reason, we both remember the same thing. But it's not true, right? Yeah.

[Danielle]

And not just when I was with you. When I've been with Ian and stuff. Like, I just look it up right

[Unspecified Female Host]

now just in case.

[Danielle]

I have pictures with Ian in front of this sign.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I have a picture with you in front of this sign.

[Danielle]

Wait.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's the U. S. Forest service. I swear, I double checked this so many times.

[Danielle]

Hold on a damn minute.

[Unspecified Female Host]

That's what I'm saying. This place feels like a national park, and it's not a national park.

[Danielle]

You're rocking my world right now.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I know.

[Danielle]

Wait, okay, hold on. All right, hold on. When the heck did we go? Okay, here we are. Here we are. National volcanic monument. You're right.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And then I think it says U.S. forest Service on it too, somewhere.

[Danielle]

Let's see. Not the sign. I have. And I have a little. Oop. There I am standing next to it. It does not say National Forest Service on it, but it also does not say national park service on it. Sneaky. This is crazy.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I know. When I first picked this episode, I'm like. And it's a national park unit. It is not.

[Danielle]

It is not.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It is not.

[Danielle]

Okay, I have a little video of Ian and I in front of it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

That's cute.

[Danielle]

Cute. Okay, well, consider me floored. Here I am thinking, I know my stuff and I don't.

[Unspecified Female Host]

So it's okay. I literally went through this exact same process on my own while I was researching this. I'm like, no, it can't be. I'm looking at photos of it. I'm googling it. I'm finding it on the US Forest Service website site. I was actively. I even went to the NPS website and typed in Mount St. Helens to try. And I'm like, it's gotta.

[Danielle]

Yeah, we gotta change this.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. Petition for this to be. I don't really know why it's not a national park. So maybe look into that a little bit more. But then petition for it to be.

[Danielle]

I mean, it's just. Yeah. I don't know. Doing research on Lassen Volcanic National Park, a big reason that they established the park is because of the volcanic landscape and just how unique that is and all that. Come on.

[Cassie]

And this.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And we'll get into it a little bit in this episode. But the reason why it is preserved as a national volcanic monument is because

[Cassie]

scientists wanted to be able to study

[Unspecified Female Host]

the area after such a huge eruption occurred there. They wanted to see how the landscape would react afterwards without a lot of human involvement there.

[Danielle]

So cool.

[Cassie]

It feels like it should be, but it's not.

[Danielle]

So we'll go and I'm starting with that in mind.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Shocked. I know.

[Danielle]

Okay, go on.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Okay. So we'll go back into this tradition.

[Cassie]

The Mount St. Helens tradition has become a staple in the outdoor world, growing so popular that by 2014, as many as 971 permits were issued for Mother's Day alone.

[Danielle]

Wait a minute. Hold on. Sorry, I'm having an identity crisis. Yeah, I have to change my thing. On our website, it says, favorite national park hike. Gasp. And I have one in Harry. Harry's Ridge Trail in Mount St. Helens. Because I thought it was a national monument.

[Cassie]

You know what?

[Unspecified Female Host]

No one has called you out, and that's been up there for years.

[Danielle]

But. Yeah. So everyone else.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Is it a just problem, or is it.

[Danielle]

Yeah, well, now I have to change it, because I just called myself out, but nobody's perfect, you know, I never claim to know anything.

[Unspecified Female Host]

We're close, but it's like we know zero things. You guys are just here and believing us.

[Danielle]

Right. Okay, sorry. Continue. I. I'll make a note. A mental note to do that so. Because by the time this comes out, people will go and check, it'll already be changed.

[Unspecified Female Host]

You better do it quick. I'm gonna change it soon.

[Danielle]

I'm doing it tonight. Yeah, okay. Sorry. Go.

[Unspecified Female Host]

What are you gonna switch it with?

[Danielle]

I don't know. I can't even think about that right now because I'm not going to pay attention to you this whole time, and I need to. So I'll think about it after.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Please pay attention. I like this story a lot. Okay, okay. I'll just start again. I'm only one sentence into the story so far.

[Danielle]

Apologies.

[Cassie]

The Mount St. Helens tradition has become a staple in the outdoor world, growing

[Unspecified Female Host]

so popular that by 2014, as many

[Cassie]

as 971 permits were issued for Mother's Day alone. Because of that demand, and in an effort to keep the mountain safer and the experience more manageable, the US Forest

[Unspecified Female Host]

Service now caps participation at roughly 350

[Cassie]

to 500 climbers each year. Hundreds of people still take on the roughly 12 mile round trip up the Worm Flows route, many of them men and women, wearing skis or some type of snow traction device and dresses in honor of their moms. Permits often sell out, and what started as a spontaneous tribute has become one of the most recognizable and unconventional Mother's Day traditions in the outdoor community. But somewhere along the way, a lot of people forgot why they're climbing a mountain in a dress in the first place. The woman who started it, Kathy Fibs. Kathy stood out just as much off the mountain as she did on it. She had an athletic frame, mushroom brown hair often cut short, with an undercut, and a big easy smile that reached all the way up to her eyes. She brought wit, charisma, and a steady, determined drive into everything that she did. Kathy helped create opportunities for women to get into the mountains, to challenge themselves and to support each other along the way. As a gay woman, she also built an inclusive community in a time where being openly gay could cost you opportunities, acceptance, and sometimes your safety. She went on to lead women up major feats, including Denali, and onto high peaks across the Andes and the Himalayas. But her biggest impact wasn't just on distant summits. It was in the Cascades, where she built a grassroots climbing community that gave women a place to belong. But for as big and beautiful as her life was, it ended just as tragically. And it's a story that deserves to be remembered. Kathy Phibs came into the world on Aug. 21, 1957, in Washington, D.C. she grew up on the east coast, but when she reached high school, her father, Philip Phibs, became president of the University of Puget Sound and the family moved across the country to Tacoma, Washington. During her senior year, Kathy got an invitation to climb her first real peak, Mount St. Helens. the time, it was a near perfect symmetrical cone of a mountain rising to nearly 10,000ft, often compared to Mount Fuji. Kathy had also learned about local indigenous stories tied to the mountain, that it had once been a beautiful woman named Lewitt. According to the story, two brothers began fighting over her, and the Great Spirit turned all three into mountains. Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, and Mount Adams. Kathy loved the history and the beautiful mountain landscape, and she was all in to climate. She couldn't wait to do it. But right before she was supposed to go, a group of University of Puget Sound students were swept off the mountain in an avalanche. Five died. Kathy's dad had to be the one to call their parents and tell them because he worked there. It hit close to home. Kathy's brother had died years earlier, and her father, Philip, couldn't bear the thought of losing another child. He pulled his permission for her to climb the peak, but Kathy had already made up her mind. She went anyway. I couldn't find much about this ascent. However, whatever happened that day marked her first true mountain summit and was the spark that fueled a lifetime of love in the mountains. The Next year, in 1975, Kathy started college at Ponama College in Claremont, California, where she met Ross McFarland, Maryland, and became further ingrained in the climbing and mountain community. It wasn't long before she discovered that he also had climbing experience. And as an ambitious, outgoing person, it wasn't long before she was planning climbing trips with him as well. Not long after, she and a group of classmates formed the Cucamonga Rambling Company, which was an outdoor club centered around climbing. They organized trips together and even applied for grants to fund their mountaineering expeditions. The day after Kathy Phipps graduated from college on May 17, 1980, was a day that would mark far more than a milestone. It was the eve of one of the most devastating volcanic eruptions in U.S. history. At 8:32am on May 18, Mount St. Helens violently erupted. And as Danielle mentioned when she dove

[Unspecified Female Host]

into this extensively in her episode the

[Cassie]

man who Went Down With His Mountain back in July of 2021, this wasn't a sudden, out of nowhere disaster. For nearly two months, the mountain had been warning anyone who was paying attention. In late March, a series of earthquakes began rumbling beneath its north flanks. Steam started venting from the summit. By April, the entire north side of the mountain had begun to bulge outward, swelling by as much as 6ft per day as magma pushed up from below. Officials evacuated much of the surrounding area, but not everyone left. Then, on the morning of May 18, a magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck. Within seconds, the entire north face of the mountain collapsed in a massive landslide, one of the largest ever recorded. What followed was even more catastrophic. The pressure release triggered a lateral blast, a superheated explosion of gas, ash and rock that shot sideways out of the mountains at hundreds of miles per hour. Everything in its path was obliterated. Forests were flattened for miles. Trees snapped and laid out like matchsticks. The blast leveled nearly everything within six miles and scorched the landscape as far as 12 miles away. An estimated 10 million trees were knocked down. The collapse also sent a torrent of debris racing down the mountain. Mudflows and avalanches surged through river Valleys, burying entire areas under layers of ash, rushed rock and sediment. Spirit Lake was overwhelmed and Toutle River Valley was choked with debris. At the same time, a towering column of ash rose more than 12 miles into the sky. Ash fell across the Pacific west like snow and eventually circled the globe. By the time it was over, 57 people were dead. Thousands of animals and millions of fish were killed. Entire ecosystems were erased. In a matter of minutes, the mountain itself was permanently altered, its peak blown apart, losing more than 1700ft in elevation and leaving behind a massive horseshoe shaped crater. For Kathy, the mountain she had fallen in love with was no longer the same. And for years it would be completely off limits.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I just wanted to stop and say

[Cassie]

that that Mount St. Helens episode that you did years ago was one of

[Unspecified Female Host]

my favorites that you've covered. So if people are listening and you're like, whoa, I've never heard of this, what happened that day? Danielle dives so much more into. I mean, I think you go like hour by hour, what was unfolding and who was affected. And it's a cool episode.

[Danielle]

Yeah. I centered it around Harry Truman, who decided to not evacuate for reasons that we get into. On that episode. Don't come at me. If I say it's a national monument, that's all I'm gonna say.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Now I'm nervous.

[Danielle]

Five years ago, you feel like what?

[Cassie]

I feel like you won't. I feel like you probably won't.

[Danielle]

I feel like I will. Really, knowing me, knowing my shock right now in this moment, I just know

[Unspecified Female Host]

we've grown, we've evolved. We're continuing to grow and evolve as you're listening to this episode.

[Danielle]

Yes. But, yeah, I agree. I really, really loved that episode. And I absolutely am in love with Mount St. Helens and I would have loved to see it beforehand, but it is so unique and so special afterwards. And I just have so many really special memories there, both with Ian and with you and by myself. I mean, that's where I went to get my photos taken with the dogs after Ian passed away. Like, I. I really love it there. It's so nice and it's really cool to see a landscape and an environment where rebuild and regenerate after such a devastating event like you just outlined. It's almost as if, how could anything rebound from this? And then to see, here it is in our lifetime. You know, clearly, when you study the Earth's history, it rained for a million years straight. One time. Did you know that?

[Unspecified Female Host]

That one time, that one time for a million years.

[Danielle]

It rained for a Million years.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's just glad that's not our timeline.

[Danielle]

Yeah, things could be so much worse. Raining all the time. But yeah, I just. The earth has been through a lot with different events like this and has obviously rebounded because we're here. But to see something like that in your lifetime and to see the mass devastation that follows and just thinking there's no way that I'm going to see this come back. And you can't. You have, you know, you can see that. And I think that's why I like visiting.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, I think what's really cool too about visiting and when we went together and you showed me the trail and everything that you really love.

[Cassie]

What's it called again? The trail?

[Danielle]

I believe it's called Harry's Ridge.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Harry's Ridge, which is so beautiful because it overlooked.

[Danielle]

It goes right up to the overlook where Harry Truman's home was.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. And it's incredible. The views up there are so cool. But I think what's also really cool, seeing that it's regenerated and become what it is after such a devastating thing.

[Cassie]

But also there's still remnants of it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I remember when we were looking at a lake from that viewpoint.

[Cassie]

You could still see all the downed trees.

[Danielle]

Oh, that's Spirit Lake.

[Cassie]

Yeah, you could see that. And you could see on the ridge

[Unspecified Female Host]

lines downed trees that have just been there since this eruption. And it's really cool.

[Danielle]

It should be a national park. You would think, but one would think the US Forest Service is.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Two would think.

[Danielle]

Actually,

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[Cassie]

about you, but I like keeping my

[Unspecified Female Host]

money where I can actually see it.

[Cassie]

Unfortunately, traditional big wireless carriers seem to like keeping my money too. Between high monthly bills, random fees and

[Unspecified Female Host]

those free perks that somehow cost more,

[Cassie]

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[Unspecified Female Host]

this is exactly what I choose.

[Cassie]

If you like your money, Mint Mobile is for you. Shop [e-mail] npad that's mintmobile.com npad upfront payment of $45 for 3 months 5 gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 per month. New customer offer for first 3 months only then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Unspecified Female Host]

So anyway, getting back into the story this was obviously a place that Kathy really loved, and when this happened, it was really devastating for a lot of reasons and partially for her was because

[Cassie]

she could no longer visit.

[Unspecified Female Host]

So she focused her sights on other areas.

[Cassie]

The year after she graduated in 1981, Kathy headed to South America with a small group of climbers, trading the familiar ranges of California for the high Andes of Peru and Bolivia. It was a big leap straight into thin air, remote terrain, and mountains that rose well above 20,000ft. During the expedition, the group completed several first female ascents, meaning routes that had been climbed before but not yet by women. One of the most notable was the Ridge of the Huaana Pudici in Bolivia. Instead of taking the standard route, they followed the West Ridge, a narrow, more technical line of rock and ice that required sustained focus and careful movement with exposure on either side as they climbed higher above the surrounding valleys. Days started early and ended cold. They moved through glaciated valleys, crossing crevasses and carrying everything they needed on their backs. At those high altitudes, even simple movement took effort, each step slower and more deliberate. Nights were spent bivouacked on the mountain, exposed to winds and dropping temperatures. By the time they reached the summit, it marked one of several first female ascents from the trip and a clear shift in the level of climbing. Kathy had stepped into moving beyond local peaks and into high altitude, technical terrain and some of the most demanding mountain environments in the world. When Kathy returned to the US alongside friends including Annette Fram, she co founded Women's Climbers Northwest, a grassroots climbing group that still exists today. At the time, the climbing world was overwhelmingly male and there weren't many spaces where women could learn, lead and take on serious objectives without being sidelined or second guessed. The group created exactly that a community where women could climb together, share skills, and gain experience on their own terms. For many of them, including Kathy, it was also a space of belonging within the LGBTQ community, something that wasn't widely visible or accepted in outdoor culture at this time. When groups of women headed into the backcountry loaded with ropes, packs, and gear, it stood out to others. Men would stop them and ask, are you girls alone?

[Unspecified Female Host]

And they'd answer, well, no, we're with each other. Imagine being in a group of your girlfriends and someone's like, are you guys out here alone? And it's like, do we look like we're alone?

[Danielle]

Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Like adult women.

[Danielle]

Yeah. Unaccompanied by men? Is that what you are trying to say?

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's the same thing that you would say to a child.

[Cassie]

Are you here alone?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Where's your parent? Where's your guardian?

[Danielle]

Yeah, your guardian?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, it's like, no, we're not. Who needs them? Yeah, it's like, we're out here with each other. We're very strong, capable women. We can do this.

[Cassie]

Her friend Ross says one time, he was out doing some serious rock climbing

[Unspecified Female Host]

with Kathy, belaying her as she worked

[Cassie]

her way up on a steep rock face. One of the other male climbers mistook her for man until she called down to Ross.

[Unspecified Female Host]

When the guy heard her voice, he said, holy, that's a chick. And back in those days, it was

[Cassie]

pretty uncommon for women to get into

[Unspecified Female Host]

climbing and much less common for them

[Cassie]

to be lead climbers.

[Unspecified Female Host]

So this was just an example of how she would be out here. And men were constantly astonished that she was there.

[Cassie]

But Kathy was fearless. Lots of her friends called her a force of nature. They remembered her telling climbing stories, explaining every handhold, using her whole body styling, stuffing ginger snaps in her mouth between tails. In 1988, Fibs led a successful women's climb of the 23, 20 foot peak Denali in Alaska. And then the very next year, she climbed the 23,448foot Mount Purami in the Himalayas. She was a serious athlete, but just as much a thoughtful teacher who loved getting beginners out onto the rock and helping them feel steady and unfamiliar terrain. On one trip to a crag in California, she and Ross McFarland were leading a group. When they missed their turn and drifted off route, the terrain became less defined and the group started to slow. As uncertainty set in, Kathy moved ahead, keeping just enough distance and began calling back that she'd found Karens marking the way up. Her voice stayed calm and steady, giving everyone something to follow. As they continued upward. As it turned out, she had actually been building those cairns herself, stacking small piles of rocks as she went so the group would feel more comfortable.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And they eventually led them back to safety. She's like, yeah, it's this way, no worries.

[Danielle]

She's like, look at that, right on track right there.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Knew it all along. And they eventually got their bearings. And except also they say not to do that because you could lead other people off path astray. But I think this is. It wasn't like most people wouldn't be in this location anyway. They were off, they were off track. But in the early days, Kathy wasn't typically making much money living as a

[Cassie]

mountaineer to pay the bills and save

[Unspecified Female Host]

for her next climb. She worked as a window washer and a chimney sweep, jobs that kept her up high. She wore harnesses and got to climb a little bit, but that wasn't really what she wanted to do.

[Cassie]

She later joked that success in climbing

[Unspecified Female Host]

might not have mattered quite as much

[Cassie]

if her window washing career had been more fulfilling. That started to shift when she was hired by Woods Women, a Minnesota based outdoor organization founded in the 1970s that focused on teaching women wilderness skills, leadership and self reliance. At a time when most outdoor education spaces were still heavily male dominated, the organization was part of a broader movement aimed at getting more women into the outdoors in meaningful, leadership driven ways, not just as participants, but as instructors and decision makers. Kathy was brought on to establish a Northwest branch and was named as its director, a role that put her in a position to lead trips, teach technical skills, and build a community of women in the mountains. It was one of the first times she was able to turn her passion for climbing into something that could financially actually support her. But Kathy recognized that she was only able to make all these incredible gains because of the women climbers who came before her. She was hyper conscious of the legacy of women mountaineers that made it possible for her to even have this freedom to climb the world. She loved reading histories about men and women who'd made first descents. She loved to hate the macho ones

[Unspecified Female Host]

about how tough the Victorian era explorers had been.

[Cassie]

But she adored the stories about women mountaineers summiting peaks in full Victorian dress, petticoats, feather hats, parasols and all fibs, is quoted saying. People think of it as a new phenomenon and it's not at all. The big mountaineer clubs in the Olympics in the 1920s were as much as 50% women. And to honor these pioneers, Kathy Phibs created a Victorian alter ego and Began writing in the voice of someone that she called Ms. Dish, a character who showed up in newsletters and writings circulating through the women's climbing community she was helping build, especially around groups like Women's Climbers Northwest. And her work with woods women.

[Danielle]

That's very Bridgerton of her.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. She's like, this is my Victorian alter ego who has big opinions about the climbing world and educate you in a way. And she made it, like, fun.

[Danielle]

And it wasn't gossip. Like, what is it in Bridgerton?

[Cassie]

I've never watched Bridgerton.

[Danielle]

What? Why did you say yeah, then do you know what I'm talking about?

[Unspecified Female Host]

I know what Bridgerton is, and it's Victorian.

[Danielle]

Yeah. But the whole thing is, for most of the seasons, there was this anonymous person. What the hell are they called? They had a pen name that they would go by that hid their true identity, and they were the town gossip. They would write about all the town gossip and put it in a newsletter, and everyone would eat it up.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Oh, you didn't know this? No, I've never seen it. Sorry.

[Danielle]

Lady Whistledown.

[Cassie]

Lady Whistledown.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And Ms. Dish.

[Danielle]

And Ms. Dish. Ms. Dish was. Came before Lady Whistledown?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Well, yeah.

[Danielle]

Well, technically, not technically, yes. But if we're looking at chronologically, Lady Whistledown would have come before, but the person who concocted Lady Whistledown came after,

[Unspecified Female Host]

maybe inspired by maybe perhaps stories like this.

[Danielle]

And speaking of, I know we're gonna move on from the Victorian era begrudgingly, but I have been dying to do a story on Isabella Bird.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I've heard that name before.

[Danielle]

Well, the first time I got introduced to her, I saw her name kind of here and there around Rocky Mountain national park as I was out, like, lived in the area. And, you know, she was like. I saw her name a lot. And then we went to a restaurant during one of our group trips out there called something Bird or, like, Isabella Bird, Maybe it was her full name, I don't know, but it was. And they were selling her books in the restaurant. Do you remember this?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, vaguely.

[Danielle]

So that restaurant is named after her. She is this explorer. She was born in Scotland, I believe, and. Or she was born in America and died in Scotland. Either way, there's a Scotland tie. But she was given orders by the doctor to go and seek different places for her for health purposes, as they did. And she traveled the world. And she was one of the first women to hike Longs Peak. She was with a man.

[Cassie]

Oh, okay.

[Danielle]

But she. She was actually with, like, her supposed lover. Like, that's kind of spicy. Yes, yes. But yeah, she was. She. And she wrote prolifically as well. She was one of the first travel writers. Really interesting.

[Unspecified Female Host]

That's super cool.

[Danielle]

Super cool.

[Unspecified Female Host]

You should do a story on her. That would be fun.

[Danielle]

But it just reminds me of like she has been here, there and everywhere. And she was quoted as saying, like, she'll she physically feel sick if she's in one place for too long. And I don't know if she was talking about like truly in bodily, like

[Unspecified Female Host]

an illness or mental.

[Danielle]

A mental thing. But I'm like, I get it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Like, I feel you speaking to my soul.

[Danielle]

Yeah. But anyhow, it just reminded me of the Victorian era and climbing mountains and Lady Whistledown. The whole thing.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. Full circle. Well, going back into Ms. Dish, she was basically this character that accompanied Kathy on her mountaineer during outings, but she wrote about it, offering commentary in a more refined perspective. So instead of it being like a diary of Kathy, being like, I did this and this and this, it was Ms. Dish would talk about these places instead. Kathy described her as the most astonishing

[Cassie]

little old lady dressed in a white

[Unspecified Female Host]

pillbox hat with a fishnet veil, a red chiffon shift, a gold cape, rhinestone butterfly wing, glacier goggles, a mink stole, whatever that is. Spotless white tennis shoes and an ice axe slash umbrella.

[Cassie]

I'm pretty sure.

[Danielle]

Well, of course it's made of mink, but I'm pretty sure a stole is those things that you warmed your hands in.

[Cassie]

Oh, okay.

[Danielle]

But I'm not.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I don't know what that is.

[Danielle]

100. Sure.

[Unspecified Female Host]

But that's what Ms. Dish would wear.

[Danielle]

She really committed to describing building this character up.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

[Danielle]

A stole is a long, narrow scarf like garment or shawl draped over the shoulders, worn either as a formal fashion accessory or is a religious or academic vestment. In fashion. It is a dressy wrap made of luxury fabrics like silk or fur.

[Cassie]

Oh, gotcha.

[Unspecified Female Host]

So, okay, now we know.

[Danielle]

Now we know. I just had to envision her and if I saw her in my mind warming her hands, I would have had it all wrong. So I needed to know.

[Unspecified Female Host]

But now you know. Well, for ross, he described Ms.

[Cassie]

Dish as a high society lady alpinist

[Unspecified Female Host]

who was determined to teach young climbers like Kathy how things ought to be done in the mountains.

[Cassie]

Through this character, Kathy found a gentle

[Unspecified Female Host]

way to critique climbing culture, weaving in reminders about respecting the alpine environment, showing consideration for wildlife and other climbers, and

[Cassie]

above all, fostering a sense of safety and sisterhood in the mountains. She leaned fully into the Voice writing

[Unspecified Female Host]

with humor, flair, and a bit of theatrics with it.

[Cassie]

So she made her, like, dramatic and fun and talking about how to have fun in the mountains and be women in the mountains.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And everyone leaned into it.

[Danielle]

It was her behind Ms. Dish.

[Unspecified Female Host]

They knew Ms. Dish wasn't a real person. I don't know if everyone knew she was the one writing about her, but

[Cassie]

they knew that she was like this

[Unspecified Female Host]

fictional character that was.

[Danielle]

Well, yeah, of course. I just didn't know if it was well known that she was the person behind.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I think, for the most part, yeah.

[Danielle]

Okay.

[Cassie]

One of Ms.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Dish's biggest gripes was the attitude of

[Cassie]

many mountaineers at the time who talked about attacking and conquering mountains.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Instead, Kathy created a climbing community that

[Cassie]

took more of a merry, relaxed, and respectful approach to visiting the natural world. After Ms. Dish came along, Kathy's expedition started taking

[Unspecified Female Host]

on a totally different vibe. The group packed delicious gourmet food to enjoy at the summit.

[Cassie]

They also started hiking in flamboyant costumes. They brought along pink flamingos to stake at the top of the mountain.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And sure, this made the trip more

[Cassie]

fun, but there was actually a pretty

[Unspecified Female Host]

serious message behind all these tutus and glitter that were involved.

[Cassie]

Her good friend Kristin Lane said about

[Unspecified Female Host]

all of these expeditions and doing this,

[Cassie]

said, we wanted to say, yes, we're women, and we're going to make fun of what you think we should be. And we're going to be strong in pearls. We're going to be strong in a dress.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I love that because I love looking like a pink girly girl and also doing rugged shit in the mountains.

[Cassie]

Finally, seven years after the 1980 eruption, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument began reopening to the public. The monument itself had been established in 1982 by the US Congress and is

[Unspecified Female Host]

managed, as we mentioned before. But I wrote this later in here.

[Danielle]

God, I don't even want to hear it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

This is managed by the U.S. forest Service as a protection research area, covering roughly 110,000 acres of land surrounding the volcano.

[Cassie]

Instead of rebuilding what had been destroyed, the decision was made to leave the landscape largely untouched so scientists could study how ecosystems recover after a massive natural disaster. Because of that, access was tightly controlled in the early years. And by the late 1980s, a permit system was introduced to allow limited climbing while protecting the fragile, recovering terrain. As bonafide dirtbaggers, Kathy Fibs and her crew weren't exactly eager to pay for permits. And it just so happened that the last day for free permits to go to Mount St. Helens fell on Mother's Day. So Kathy and the women Climbers Northwest started inviting everyone they knew for a climb up the mountain they hadn't been able to touch since the eruption. Friends invited friends. Partners came along too. It wasn't exclusive. Everyone was welcome, with one condition. You had to wear a dress. And people showed up decked out in the chiffon, lace and whatever they could piece together. They made their way up the mountain. What could have been a one off turned into something bigger. The summit felt like a party.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Joyful, a little chaotic, and completely unforgettable.

[Cassie]

A color photo of Kathy made the front page of the Seattle Times. And afterward, no one really questioned whether it would happen again. The next year they did it again. Then again two years after turned into five, five turned into ten. And just like that, a tradition was born. Then in 1990, Kathy Phibs, along with her alter ego, Ms. Dish, dreamed up another ambitious climb. This time to honor the centennial of the first recorded female ascent of Mount Rainier, a 14,410foot peak and the highest mountain in the Cascade Range. What they were commemorating wasn't just a climb, but a moment in history when women first proved they belonged on one of the most formidable mountains in the country. And here's the story of that original ascent girl.

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[Cassie]

On August 10, 1890, a 22 year old Tacoma schoolteacher named Faye Fuehler set out for the summit of Mount Rainier, becoming the first known woman to stand on top of it. But getting there wasn't guaranteed. She began the climb with four men and another woman, Edith Corbett. But early on, Edith became ill and had to Turn back. Faye kept going. For 12 straight hours, she climbed, refusing help from the men, despite wearing a dress and petticoats, steadying herself with a long walking stick as she moved higher up the mountain. She knew turning around wasn't just her decision. It would mean one of the men would have to leave the summit attempt to escort her back. And she wasn't willing to be the reason for that. So she kept pushing. By 4:30 that afternoon, they reached the summit. Standing at the top, Faye took in the view and later described it as a heavenly moment. Words cannot describe the scenery and beauty. How could they speak for the soul? That night, she and the others camped inside the mountain's volcanic crater. Even then, she understood what the climb meant, not just for her, but for others. She believed more women would follow, predicting that a good many women would one day make that same journey to the summit. And a good many women did follow Fay's example, including Alma Wagon, a Minnesota girl who followed her love of wilderness west, climbing numerous peaks on the Olympic Peninsula and across Alaska. Eventually, her experience got her job as the first woman to serve as a Mount Rainier climbing guide. She told the magazine, there are places to climb and I wanted to teach other women the joy of climbing. And in the early 1900s, lots of women wanted to learn. Over half the founding members of the climbing club known as Mountaineers were women. Anna Louise Strong was another Washington outdoors woman. Before she came west, she was a journalist covering socialism in the 1920s Soviet Union. She found her way to California and helped start several outdoor camps. She and a well known mountaineer started Cooperative Campers, now known as the Washington Alpine Club. Women worked as fire lookouts, they wrote hiking guides, they lobbied Congress for wilderness protections. They started even more outdoor clubs. Their contributions to making the mountain ranges of the Pacific crest available to generations of women show that women have always been a part of the American naturalist tradition. And Kathy was a part of that long and esteemed legacy. She wanted nothing more than to celebrate her mountaineering foremothers. On the anniversary of Faye's ascent of Mount Rainier, she led 33 women, including an amputee, all dressed to the nines in pearls and hats and flowing gowns up to the top of Rainier, quite literally following in Fay Fuehler's footsteps. I just love.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I wish I could have seen. I wish I could have been a part of one of these groups, but I wasn't born yet, but I would

[Cassie]

have loved to just seen these women doing this.

[Danielle]

Yeah, you need to get in a women's Club.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I know. Someone invite me into a women's club. I don't know where to go.

[Danielle]

Someone invite me desperate to be a part of one.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I'm desperate, but I also want to come off as, like, cool and not desperate, but just know I'm desperate.

[Danielle]

Just know she wants nothing more to be accepted by.

[Unspecified Female Host]

By a bunch of badass women. Yeah.

[Danielle]

Well, you do. At least in the past. You've done stuff with like, dirt biking women's groups, right?

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

And I'm just saying something like on a more routine basis.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. I mean, I think a group of women to commit to hanging out with me often.

[Danielle]

Quarterly. Were you about to say quarterly? Quarterly is attainable. It's better than not at all.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's true.

[Danielle]

And you travel a lot. Like, I don't think you could commit to a weekly thing.

[Cassie]

Yeah. Probably not weekly, but monthly.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Monthly. Maybe monthly. Every other month, quarterly.

[Danielle]

So you gotta start somewhere. Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I'll take what I can get. I'll take what I can get. Oh, well, going back to Kathy and all of. I mean, she had women's groups and it sounds so cool.

[Cassie]

It was only a few months after that centennial climb of Mount Rainier that Kathy Phibs and her friend Hope Barnes set out on a winter adventure to ice climb the northwest face of Dragon peak, a rugged 8,840foot summit in central Washington. Stewart Range, part of the eastern Cascades near Leavensworth, known for its steep granite walls, heavy winter snowfall and serious alpine roots. Their objective was a line called the Triple Couloir, a narrow series of snow and ice filled gullies that funnel up the mountain's face and demand precise, technical climbing. The trip was meant to be a celebration. Hope had just finished her doctoral dissertation, and the two of them wanted to mark the moment in the mountains. They knew what they were getting into. The route was technical, with steep snow, ice and sections of exposed rock. But both women were highly experienced. Hope had competed in the Olympics twice as a rower and was also a seasoned climber and backcountry skier. Before leaving, they shared a detailed itinerary with family and friends, outlining where they were going and when they expected to return. Monday, January 28, 1990, with a note, not to worry, unless it was Tuesday. Kathy parked the truck at Bridge Creek Campground, and from there the two set out into the mountains, excited to be there but fully aware of the terrain they were stepping into. Kathy, known for her caution and safety first mindset, approached climbing with intention. She even joked about being an old goat using trekking poles long before they were common determined to protect her knees so she could keep moving in the mountains for years to come. They planned to take their time on the route, building in an extra day for their itinerary to move carefully and deliberately through the climb. But Tuesday came and went, and there was no word from Kathy or Hope. By Wednesday morning, January 30, concern had turned into alarm, and the local sheriff received a call reporting that two experienced climbers were overdue on Dragontail Peak. Search and rescue teams were mobilized almost immediately, with both ground crews and helicopters sent towards the mountain. But conditions had shifted overnight. A winter storm moved in, bringing strong winds, low visibility and fresh snow that blanketed the upper slopes. The helicopter teams made passes over the mountain, but were only able to see the lower portion of the couloirs with no sign of the climbers. Early the next day, Thursday, January 31, a team of eight search and rescue members set out on foot, making their way towards the base of the triple couloir. As they approached the route, they began scanning the debris filled runout below the face, where snow, ice and rock from above naturally funneled down. It didn't take long before they found Kathy, and she was deceased. Her body was located near the base of the climb in a crawling position. A short distance uphill. About 300ft above, they found Hope seated on top of their coiled ropes. Around them, pieces of gear were scattered across the slope, partially buried in snow. From there, the search team began to piece together what had happened in the mountain. They deciphered that Hope had led a pitch properly placing her tools for protection. She was bringing Kathy up to her when something went terribly wrong. Investigators suspected that an avalanche or falling ice swept Hope off the mountain. They also theorized that she could have possibly had a misstep and fell. But either way, the weight of her plummeting body dragged Kathy off the mountainside too. They both crashed onto the snow and the rock below. Hope hit her head, crushing her helmet, and ended up just below where Kathy landed. Kathy likely called out to her, but there was probably no response because it seemed like she would have been unconscious. Kathy was badly injured in the fall with a broken femur and several ribs, but she still managed to drag herself down towards her friend, leaving a trail of blood in the snow behind her. When she reached Hope, she gathered their rope and worked to get her into a seated position, propping her up against her pack and keeping her off the snow and slow the effects of hypothermia. After that, Kathy tried to make her way down the mountain for Help. But she couldn't get far. She only got about 300 yards. Both women ultimately died from hypothermia, made worse by the injuries they had sustained in the fall. After her death, Kathy's friend Kristen Lane said she died trying. I know she died trying to save herself and her friend. Kathy had always referred to the Cascades as her beloved. And after she was gone, the people who knew her held on to the idea that this is where she chose to remain. Lauren Smith, a friend of both Kathy and Hope, reflected on who they were as climbers and as people, saying, Hope and Kathy both were outstanding climbers and had very good judgment. One of the first things people do when there are climbing deaths is make judgments about how dangerous climbing is. There's no place they would have rather died. I'm sad they died, but they were people who really loved the mountains. Both of these women were just 33 years old.

[Danielle]

Holy moly. They're so good. When you list their accomplishments, it's that it's a lengthy resume for each of them.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, doctorates, climbing feats around the world. They've lived three lives, but they've just done such incredible things.

[Cassie]

And now they're both part of a long lineage of fierce, joyful, and deeply committed women mountaineers of the Pacific Northwest. Long after Kathy Phibb's death, the Mother's Day tradition she started lives on at Mount St. Helens. Every year, hundreds of climbers make the trek up the mountain. Most of them show up in dresses. We're talking everything from polka dots and florals to bridesmaid gowns, miniskirts, old school frocks, even feather boas and wigs. People layer them over their usual climbing gear so you'll see stiff boots, backpacks,

[Unspecified Female Host]

ice axes, and then a dress blowing in the wind.

[Cassie]

The whole thing is part tribute, part party. On the way up, you pass groups laughing, taking photos and cheering each other on. And somewhere along the climb, there's always at least one confused hiker who didn't get the memo, stopping to ask, ask, what's with all the dresses? At its core, it's simple. People climb to honor their moms. Whether that's calling home from the summit, raising a toast, or just taking a moment to think about the people who got them there in the first place. By the time they reach the top, it feels less like a summit and more like a celebration. A colorful, windy, slightly ridiculous gathering on the side of a volcano. But the slightly ridiculous, fun tradition is so much more than that. It's a tribute, not only just to moms but to women. And that's why it's important not to lose the memory of Kathy Fibs, aka Ms. Dish and her skis, in a red chiffon dress and white pillbox hat, smiling into the sunshine on the top of Mount St. Helens. Nor should we forget any of the women who made first ascents of mountains. It's only because of the Kathys and the Fay Fuelers and the Alma Wagons that women have a place in the world of mountaineering today. So this Mother's Day, wherever you are, put on your kitschiest gown and your sparkliest hat and climb to the top of that mountain. It's an American tradition. And that's my Mother's Day story.

[Danielle]

Very nice. Very sad ending. Didn't see it coming. I thought it was going to be wholesome from start to finish, but, yeah, I had no knowledge of this tradition before this neither.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I stumbled across it when I was looking for things and then I saw Mother's Day is coming up, and I was like, wow, what a perfect timing. What a cool way to celebrate, too.

[Danielle]

I know this. So you're releasing this a day early, you said. So this is only gonna work for one day. For one day. But it would be really cool if anyone out there, or I guess in the past, if you have participated and have photos, we would love to see them.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, that would be super cool.

[Danielle]

I just, I. I don't think I've ever been out hiking for Mother's Day, let alone because it's. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's any mountain. Right? It's not. It originated on Mount St. Helens, but it's not just a Mount St. Helens specific tradition.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It feels like this is a Mount St. Helens. This is a tradition that happens on Mount St. Helens specifically. But it would be fun if people just did that in all mountains on Mother's Day. I think that that would be awesome.

[Danielle]

Yeah, I think it would be more. Yeah, everyone would have at least gotten maybe the memo in Mount St. Helens. But if you're doing it, you know, like in the whites here, people are like, what the heck is happening here? It's like, oh, you didn't know about the Mount St. Helenson let me tell you. And then you can really spread the

[Unspecified Female Host]

word and really start a Mother's Day tradition around the world or around the country.

[Danielle]

Well, thanks so much for sharing that. That was really lovely. I'm glad I know about it now. And I really want to see people's pictures. What would you wear?

[Unspecified Female Host]

It would have to be Pink. I think I would want, like one of those feathery boas that you like.

[Danielle]

Oh, I remember feather boas.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Oh, yeah, sure.

[Danielle]

Do you?

[Unspecified Female Host]

I think I would want one of those. And I would want some type of Victorian style hat with a lot of feathers. Fake feathers.

[Cassie]

Fake.

[Danielle]

Fake Guy Bradley would be rolling in his grapes.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah. The plume hunting phase. No, all fake. But yeah, I think I would. I would want to be really bright, I think.

[Danielle]

Yeah.

[Unspecified Female Host]

What would you wear?

[Danielle]

I don't know. Definitely a Victorian style gown.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I could see you in a full gown, like corset.

[Danielle]

I love a high neck. Oh, there's something about a high neck. I love it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's gonna be awful to hike in, but you will look great.

[Danielle]

Beauty is pain, as they say. Yeah. Definitely a black. I'm seeing like. Yeah, some lace situation. Gown. Definitely a high neck. I don't need sparkles or feather boas or anything. We'll leave that to you. You got that handled.

[Unspecified Female Host]

We'll have both. It will have a balance.

[Danielle]

Yep. As always. And you know, I said I wouldn't think about it, but I have been thinking about it in the background of my favorite hike now. Because I'm stressed

[Unspecified Female Host]

and have you decided on a hike yet?

[Danielle]

I don't want to overthink it is the thing, because it should just be from the heart, you know, it should be your first. What is yours? Actually on the website, I think my.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Mine's not a national park. Mine is. I did in the White Mountains, Franconia Notch.

[Danielle]

Didn't our prompt say favorite national park hike?

[Unspecified Female Host]

I don't think so.

[Danielle]

Oh, then I'm not changing it.

[Unspecified Female Host]

And I think it just said favorite hike. Oh, really? I think so because I wrote it.

[Danielle]

I don't know why.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I'm pretty sure. I mean, it's years ago now, but I'm pretty sure about us.

[Danielle]

Let's see. Okay. It does say favorite hike.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Okay, you're good. Okay.

[Danielle]

Phew. Now I won't change it. I'm standing by it. Ten toes down.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Wow.

[Danielle]

Standing on business.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Oh, yeah.

[Danielle]

Yours is Franconia Ridge Loop. I was gonna say. I guess a runner up then would be. And I. I don't think it's a boring answer, but it's just a very popular hike. But I think it's popular for good reason. And it's the Paradise Loop in Mount Rainier. It is so stunningly beautiful. And I've done it several times.

[Cassie]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

And it's probably the hike that made me like when I originally went out to Washington years ago and did the camper Van like national park camping extravaganza trip. I think after hiking that or at least visiting Mount Rainier, I was like, oh, I'm moving here. At some point in my life, I have to live in this area.

[Unspecified Female Host]

It's like, this is incredible.

[Danielle]

It's just so beautiful, especially during wildflower season. And it's just. It hasn't all.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I still haven't been to Mount Rainier.

[Danielle]

Really.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I've seen it from a distance, but I've never been physically in the park.

[Danielle]

But you've been to the other Washington parks.

[Unspecified Female Host]

I've been to North Cascades and I've been to Olympic.

[Danielle]

Okay, well, let's get you there.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Let's get you national park, Mount St. Helens

[Danielle]

volcanic monument.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

Okay. Well, yeah, good goal for this. I don't know why to say this year, but soon.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah, you should go sometime.

[Danielle]

Wait, we didn't go when you were with. You came to see me. Mm.

[Unspecified Female Host]

We just went to Mount St. Helens.

[Danielle]

If I would have known, I'd have taken you to both. Okay, well, thank you everyone, so much for listening. Go. Either call your mom, hug your mom, say a prayer to your mom. For anyone who's missing their mom thinking of you, or anyone who's like a mom, give them love.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Yeah.

[Danielle]

And we'll see you next week. In the meantime, enjoy the view, but watch your back. Bye.

[Unspecified Female Host]

Bye.

[Cassie]

Thanks for joining us for another episode. We hope you learned something new and have another location to put on your list. If you want more NPAD content, make sure to follow along with our adventures on all socials. Astpark After Dark for more stories just

[Danielle]

like this one, with the added bonus of exclusive content. You can join us on Patreon or Apple Subscriptions. If you prefer to watch our episodes, head over to our YouTube channel. And if you're enjoying the show, please take a moment to rate, review and subscribe on your favorite listening platform.

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