This trip was my first vlog in a while, and it was also my first time camping completely solo—out on the northeast side of Mount Saint Helens ahead of a PNW astro meetup. Finding a spot wasn’t as simple as I hoped: I rolled up on two different campsites that had swarms of giant “bees”… except I’m pretty sure they were hornets (or murder hornets), so I bailed and kept searching until I found a place that felt right. By the time I climbed into the rooftop tent, it hit me how weird it felt doing this alone after years of camping with Leslie. Not bad—just strange. The next morning I met up with Diana at the Norway Pass trailhead and we decided on the Mount Margaret Trail. It was hot, we started late-ish, and we still made it to the summit—totally worth it for the views. Later we hiked back up to Norway Pass for the astro meetup and got cameras set, hoping the Milky Way would line up over the mountain. In the end, only four of us made it out, and while the view was awesome, Portland’s light pollution was blasting from behind St. Helens and pretty much ruined the astro shots. I wrapped the vlog there and teased the next video I filmed on this trip: my best ways to make coffee while camping.