With Nicole's school commitments winding down it was time to get out and start doing some climbing together- first up on the list: Mt St Helens. I had climbed MSH last year, on skis, as a cold turkey jump back into skiing after a decade of being a warm weather athlete. I was hoping for similarly beautiful weather for this outing. Despite being well into June the snowpack was still what one might expect in early May- so once again the skis came along.
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| Chocolate Falls |
Our bivy at the trailhead at Marble Mtn snowpark was interrupted throughout the night be generators, car sirens and rescue whistles. Turns out a couple of hikers spent the night out... really wish they hadn't because I would have rather had a good night's sleep. Nicole and I and friend Becky donned packs at 5:30 and headed up the trail. I was questioning my insistence of hiking in my AT boots- I was comfortable enough but the volcanic rock seemed to be doing a number to the sole- hope the future Dynafit bindings still engage into my gnarled boots.
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| Views of the upper mountain from treeline |
Becky and I finally began skinning a few hundred feet above treeline once we were reasonably sure we saw a continuous path up the mountain.
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| The ladies on the ascent |
We all stuck close by with Nicole working it in the bootpack and Becky and I criss crossing some of the steeper slopes on skins.
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| A line of boot packers |
About two thirds up we take a longer break and ditch some items now seen as unnecessary: snowshoes! The last slog was mostly within sight now. Mt Hood peaked out a few times to the South and hints of the base of Adams were seen under a low cloud deck. I still had hopes of seeing the caldera from the rim.
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| Clouds chasing us up the mountain |
Soon after our break we met the crux of the route- a steeper and suddenly much crustier slope, and the real crux- some folks ahead of us who were unsure which side of the ice axe to stick in the snow. One fellow took a slip near the top of this slope and slid down between Becky and I and Nicole in the bootpack. Thankful that he seemed uninjured and had taken no one down with him, we continued on and were soon atop the steep slope and looking at the last moderate slopes up to the rim.
Topping out on the rim it was pretty obvious that the grey thick clouds were hanging around for a while. It was still a beautiful day- not much wind, warm enough- we relaxed and ate on the rim hoping for some sucker holes to permit views out around us.
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| On the rim! Beautiful views... |
But the clouds wouldn't relent and we didn't want to wait too long so we soon started our descent- Nicole not quite yet convinced how much faster the descent would be- ironic because she was a hard glissader to keep up with on the way down!
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| Glissading past Adams |
We stuck pretty close together on the way down as well and pretty much took the climbing route back down. Next time I want to trend skiers right and hit Monitor Ridge before coming back over towards the Worms Flow to re-enter the woods. Becky and I were able to ski all the way down to Chocolate Falls, where a quick portage was necessary before continuing on for a mile glide down through the forest.
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| Drying out |
We got back down to the parking lot, spread out some clothes and had a good food break before reassembling gear and heading back to Seattle. Great day of skiing for late June, and Nicole's first volcano summit!
