WESTERN WASHINGTON

Summary

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Mt. St. Helens is perhaps one of the most recognizable peaks in Washington state. Climbing to its rim was a tiring, yet magical experience I would love to repeat.

Trail Stats

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Trail Details

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Ever have an idea pop into your head, take up residence and become something you truly desire? Hiking up Mt. St. Helens was one for me. Somehow, the thought took root in my scatter brain and grew from a “Hey, wouldn’t that be cool” to a “No, seriously, I will do this”.

Luckily I have a very tolerant husband who generally goes along with my hare brained ideas. Though, at first, he was not onboard with this one. At all. I think he even said no. Bah. As if that ever works. He tried to reason with me. We weren’t in shape. It’s a mountain peak, we had no business up there.

Wrong. It’s an active volcano and the whole top already blew off, so only half the height to climb! I eventually wore him down with my dream. Frequent mentions and scheming. He caved. Poor guy. Sometimes I think he just likes the argument.

We applied for permits to climb up. And got them! Permits are required April through October and can be obtained online thru Recreation.gov. It can still be a challenge to obtain a permit as it is popular and slots are limited per day. We chose a weekday to better our chances, made a mini vacation out of it, ending with camping on the eastern side of Mt. Rainier. That was a disastrous camping venture complete with a leaky tire, immense thunderstorms and an utterly flooded campsite. But that’s a story for another day.

While many climbers choose to sleep at the trailhead parking lot, we stayed in a little cabin at the Lone Fir Resort in Cougar, WA. There are not a lot of options out there. Mostly camping. Our check in was entertaining. Driving out after work, we arrived late. And when we went to our appointed room, there was another couple taking up residence. Eh, I think not. They also arrived late and went into the wrong room. Now, I am not a sharing type of person when it comes to things like this. It eventually got sorted out (nope, not sharing) and they found their room. Luckily they had not settled into ours. The rooms were pre appointed and did vary. So yeah. That was weird. Nice enough people. Still odd.

The next morning we got up nice and early to drive to the trailhead. It’s not all that close and we wanted an early start. Packs were laden with lunch (croissant sandwiches), water, snacks and sunscreen. The latter mostly for me, this skin burns like none other. Dang lack of melanin. Other necessities include a jacket as it gets windy, sunglasses, gaiters, and if you have sensitive fingers, gloves. Sunglasses will help protect your precious eyeballs from being pelted with minuscule rocks and ash. Gaiters will help prevent your shoes from filling with ash near the summit.

The summer trail, or Climbers Bivouac, starts the first few miles in the tree’s. Just before exiting the tree’s there’s a potty. Use it. Everything else will be in the open and likely in full view of other climbers. After the trees comes Monitor Ridge. This climb encompasses a few thousand vertical feet and takes you over boulder fields frequently covered in ash. Trails wind up the ridge, choose one. They all go up. Those gloves can keep your fingers and palms scratch free, though they may be more handy on your descent.

Somewhere along this section, a trail runner blazed past us. Lithe male in short shorts and nothing else. Like a freaking gazelle breezing past. Incredible. Not sure where he pinned his permit. I’d rather not know. He was on a trail slightly above and those shorts left little to the imagination. Needless to say, he was the main topic of conversation along the trail. Anyone who surpassed us or we passed commented, “Did you SEE that runner?!?” Yep, sure did. Almost too much of him actually.

After scrambling over and circumventing boulders you reach the final stretch. Strap on those gaiters. Catch your breath and up, up and away! Or, more realistically, one step up and slide back half a step or so. You’ve got about 1K vertical feet to the crater rim. It’s all ash and minute pebbles. Even with gaiters you’ll likely want to dump the ash out of your shoes and shake it out of your socks. As best you can.

The actual summit is to the left. Continue along the rim, the trail is narrow and sloped. Don’t stumble. It would be a long way down. While most hikers seem to post up somewhere close to where they’ve crested the rim, I would suggest picking your way to the end. We had it to ourselves.

As Mt. St. Helens is as active volcano, the cone within the crater can be seen venting. Pretty spectacular. As nearly the entire northern side of the volcano blew out in the 1980 eruption, it’s an incomplete ring around the crater. That northern blast killed all vegetation within about 6 miles, while the southern side remained much more intact. It is riveting to view this destruction and see the ever so gradual return of plants. In total the volcano lost around 1300 vertical feet. That’s a lot of dirt and rock.

Sit and enjoy for as long as you like. Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood stand tall above the green hills for you to enjoy. Just stay back from the rim. It’s loose and you don’t want to fall in. As you sit there, you will hear and see bits of rock slide down.

Depending on the time of year one can glissade down the ashy peak. Just be aware of the associated risks. If not, for every step down you take, you’ll slide three further. Great fun! Takes much less time to get down that ashy cap than it did to scale. Hopefully your gaiters are still on.

The worst part is picking your way back down those boulders. If you use your hands to lower yourself down, your palms can look like they’ve been taken to a cheese grater. Poles would likely be helpful. Or at least gloves. Meh. It’s only a flesh wound.

This hike lived up to my expectations. I loved it and so did Doug. In retrospect, we have certainly done more taxing hikes. Though nothing quite like that last ashy push since. If you’re able, try for a permit. Even if you have to con your spouse.

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