Mount St. Helens March 10, 2001 Dave and I drove down Friday after work to the Marble Mountain Sno-Park. It was not a very pleasant camp. Climbers, skiers, and snowboarders were all camped with snowmobilers and it was quite noisy until midnight and then again beginning at 5 a.m. One party showed up at 5 am and was oblivious to anyone being asleep even though there were tents and sleeping bags everywhere! Finally, the whole camp got up since it was no use to even try sleeping any longer. We had picked up our free permit at Jack’s on the way through, but we had to drive back to Cougar in the morning to get the 8-buck Sno-Park permit. We finally got started about 7 a.m. The trail, although snow covered, was hardpack and we didn’t use the snowshoes. We passed several parties winter camping. After 2.5 miles the trail leaves treeline and heads up Monitor Ridge to the crater. In another mile we put on our crampons as the ridge steepened. When we finally climbed out of the clouds, we saw there were about 40 people making the climb. Only Mounts Rainier, Adams, Hood, and Jefferson could be seen above the cloud layer below. There was a bit of powder near the summit, but not a good ski or snowboard day overall. On the rim, we put all our clothes on to stay warm in the wind. A couple hours earlier I had only a T-shirt on! There were fantastic cornices built all around the crater, and the wind whipped the snow into weird shapes. Several people got close enough to the edge to warrant words of caution. Dave and I could not resist going around to the northwest to try for the true summit. None of the other parties went to take a look and there were no visible tracks in the snow. We finally broke out the ice axes for self-belays, since the traverse was steep. The wind was really blowing! Several times we had to hunker down, cover up, and wait for it to stop. It felt like it was trying to blow us off the mountain! Finally, we reached the high point, took a quick picture, then started our long traverse back to the main route. By now the snow was softening up, and anyone without snowshoes would posthole up to their waists. We glissaded where we could on the way down, and finally made it back to the trailhead at 6 p.m. for an eleven-hour day. A great winter climb, but the snow was hard and wind scoured so not that great for skis or snowboards.

My wife's boss, a scoutmaster, invited us and another couple to join their troop climbing Mt. St. Helens on Friday. We hit Ptarmigan trail at 6AM on a beautiful, sunny day - sure to be hot. I was impressed by the scouts - they were sturdy hikers, polite, followed directions, and didn't complain. Ptarmigan follows an easy 2 miles to timberline through forest and lupine meadows, with a few tiger lilies scattered here and there. At timberline the trail ends and the route begins, marked by sturdy wooden posts all the way up Monitor Ridge. It starts off with a scramble up a boulder slope, and alternates bewtween sand, scree, and boulders most of the way. At the end of the ridge a steep climb through ash brings you to the crater rim. We enjoyed views of Adams, Ranier, Hood, and Jefferson. At one point I thought I could make out Three Sisters. The climb is grueling, but not technical. Martha stopped at the top of the ridge and insisted I follow the scouts up. I summited at noon, about an hour later than the scouts. The scouts glissaded down while Martha and I mostly hoofed it. Trekking poles definitely helped. We finished off the climb with watermelon at Climber's Bivouac and a dip in Swift Reservoir (can't recommend this lakeside camping unless you have a troop of scouts to cool off - too noisy).

We had long wanted to climb to the top of St Helens to complete our list of summits of Washington state volcanos, and on a cloudy rainy Saturday in Seattle decided to make a break for it. The weather report for Sunday indicated clearing, particularly down South, so we thought we would give it try. We left Seattle at close to 3 pm, which was definitely cutting the timing a bit close in terms of getting to Jacks store to enter the permit lottery at 6 pm. Luckily, traffic was light, and we raced straight to Jacks, rolling in at a bit past 5:30 pm. There were right around 50 climbers milling around who were all entering the lottery, but with 50 permits issued on a walk-up basis every day, we figured our odds would be good. The crowd was not your usual climbing folk - lots of people who didn't fit the mold - so we figured that the climb must not be too difficult, which was fine -- we just wanted good weather and a good workout, and to experience being right on the devastated mountain, with closeup views of the crater and lava dome .... Luck was with us, and one of our names was drawn second in the lottery at 6 pm. This was key, because everyone whose names were drawn subsequently had to go inside, fill out paperwork and pay for the climbing permits, which took a bit of time. If you are further back in line you could expect at least a half hour wait just to get to the counter to take care of this business. The large, surly man behind the counter (was this THE Jack'') took our money, gave us our permits, and sent us on our way. We decided not to grab dinner at Jacks -- I was not at all impressed with the place, after having read and heard about it, I was expecting something more in the way of an interesting country store and hole-in-the-wall type restaurant, but its not too impressive ..... After signing in at the climbers register, we decided to head back into Woodland to stock up on supplies and grab a good meal (about a half hour drive back to the highway)- we really had nothing better to do anyway. We did check out a couple of B&Bs as potential overnight stays, but were not at all impressed with those places either. Having never been up to the Climbers Bivouac we were not sure what the camping situation would be, so we decided to camp just outside of Cougar at an official campground with the weekend car-camping masses. We had a largely sleepless night, as folks nearby decided to hang out by the campfire, talking and drinking until well past 1 am. We got up at 6 am, packed up, and drove to Climbers Bivouac. There is indeed not much camping here, although we probably could have comfortably pitched our tent in the parking lot and had a quieter night than we did at our real campsite down the road .... After breakfast in the car, we hit the trail at 7:15 am in thick cloud cover with hopes for breaking weather later in the day. The first 2 miles to timberline are wonderful trail through the woods, quiet and cool and very fast. Soon the trail pops out above tree line, and begins up Monitor Ridge, winding through and over rocks, scree, sand, and pumice. The trail is marked with large wood posts all the way up the route. Some scrambling and use of hands is required, particulary through a few steeper sections - this is probably not the best hike for people used to nice well-groomed trails! There is not much snow anymore in the area now, and the trail to the top is all snowfree. The last mile or so to the top is all in loose sand and pumice, and can be very tiring. Also, on very warm sunny days, this would be a very hot hike - get started early! We met some folks decending who had started at 4:15 am for that very reason! As we climbed up the ridge, we broke out of the clouds and had wonderful views of Adams, Hood, Jefferson, and Sisters, but everything else was cloud-covered. It was beatiful, and inspiring! We continued on up, making great time, with only a few short breaks for water and snacks. Reached the summit at 10:30, and hung out on top with about 20 or so other folks. It was windy on top, but not too bad just below the crater rim, where we had a nice lunch and spent an hour enjoying the sun and the views. The view down into the crater and of the lava dome were spectacular, and we finally saw Mt Rainier in the North as well, with the log-filled Spirit Lake closer to us peeking through the swirling cloud cover on occasion too. All in all it was quite a dramatic sight!! We headed back down, knowing we had about a 4-hour drive home from the trailhead, and wanted to get on with it. Tried glissading a bit, but parts of the snow were frozen hard and crunchy, and it wasnt much fun. Nonetheless, the descent through the soft pumice and sand and scree, and/or down small snowfields, went quickly. We really enjoyed the descent back through the woods, as by this time the clouds had lifted, and we kept catching views of Hood and the very-close Adams throught the trees ..... Made it back to the car at 1:15, and quickly hit the road. Stopped at a lake on the way back down to take a quick cooling and cleansing swim, logged out at the climbers register at Jacks, and stopped at the DQ in Woodland for a Blizzard for the road trip home. Arrived back in Seattle by a bit after 5 pm. All in all, a great trip, great views, and a fun different hiking experience. Not really much of a real climb, but a great hike and scramble. 6 hours round trip, including an hour on top (we were moving pretty fast). Trail was in great condition in the woods, and as good as can be expected on the rest of the ridge. PS -- A ranger was checking passes on the trail, so don't try to go without a pass!

This trip was arduous, but well worth the effort. We left the bivouac at 0600, and arrived at the summitt 6.5 hours hence. Unlike others, we stayed off the snow for most of the climb. I found the snow a bit slick, and with no crampons or axes, was not comfortable with it. Tip: If you're going to climb the rocks like we did, bring a pair of leather garden gloves. Your hands will thank you. When you reach the crater rim, you may be rendered speachless. The colors on the crater walls are amazing. Listen for rock/ice falls in the crater. You can watch huge boulders bounce down the sides to the bottom of the crater. We spent about 45 minutes at the top. The weather was perfect; beautiful views all around. My hiking partner glissaded most of the way down; I choose the possibly safer scramble route down through the rocks. He ended up three ridges too far to the west, so he had to climb over lots of rocks anyway. The best thing about this hike: walking and climbing through huge pumice and granite boulders that landed where they lay after they were ejected from the throat of the volcano when it erupted 18 May 1980. Amazing.

Climbing Mt. St. Helens: We started our trip from Climbers' Bivouac at 7:30am on this partly sunny Monday. The trail was mostly under snow but easy to follow. Around 8:45am we reached the snow/rock area outside the woods and started the climb. Ice axe was very useful for walking up relatively soft snow. People without axe/poles made it up just fine though. Walking up on snow was easier than scrambing on the rocks. Around 10am we took a break at this spot with some kind of triangle mark with rocks in it. The view to Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood was nice. Clouds were coming up from the valley. We kept going up, and walked up the last 1000 ft on loose rocks/sand. That part was quite steep and difficult. Finally we made to the crator rim, the top, at 12:10pm. Needless to say it was awesome looking down the crater to the lava dome. Spirit Lake and Mt. Rainier are further to the north, making the scene utterly grand. Lots of people climbed, including a couple that looked like they were to marry at the top (the woman wore a bridal veil). Surely a long way to celebrate for their guests. We left around 1pm and glissaded most of our way down. Again, ice axe was helpful for controlling the speed. We reached the timberline around 3pm and got back to our car at 4pm. A great day to remember.