Last Friday, we got a free day off from work due to an office shuffle in my building. Since that day happened to be the 27th anniversary of the great 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, we thought it would be a great day to climb the mountain. It was recently re-opened for climbing after being closed during the mild eruptions in the last couple years. Volcanoes never remember anniversaries, right?
Mount St. Helens is a moderately strenuous but nontechnical climb. From the trailhead at 2700′ elevation it’s about 6 miles and 5500′ elevation gain to the southern rim of the crater. This time of year, the upper half of the mountain is covered in deep snow, which depending on how you look at it is either easier or harder to climb than the loose volcanic rubble that you’d encounter later in the summer.
Brandon came since he works in the same building, along with four other co-workers of mine. The six of us drove down Thursday night, picked up climbing permits, camped at the base (Marble Mountain Sno-Park), and hit the trail shortly after dawn, around 6:15am. Luckily it was a beautiful sunny day. It took us just under six hours to reach the top, although a for good portion of that I was waiting at various points… err, I mean… resting while others caught up. Unfortunately I rested a bit too much, because around 500′ from the top, the wind picked up and the clouds started rolling in. So by the time we summited, the surrounding views were almost gone. Still, it was cool to see into the crater.
