Mt. St. Helens Climb, November 7, 2020

 

Mt. St. Helens Climb

November 7, 2020

 

The night before we made the drive over to Mt. St. Helens.  We camped just down the road from the main parking lot.  We got up early and hit the trailhead around 3:40am.  We had the same climbing group as our Mt. Adams climb: Becky and I and our two boys, Brian and his two boys, and one of our former Scouts. 

Our climbing party

Starting the boulder field

Watching the sunrise

            We started out through the trees and started the boulder field in the dark.  There was about 4-5 inches of new snow, which made the boulder field tricky.  We put our crampons on, just in case.  The wind started to really kick up and started blowing snow around.  We watched the sunrise and could see Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood in the distance. 

Mt. Hood in the distance

Mt. Adams in the distance

Sunrise

        

    As we made our way up the mountain, we could see the clouds and weather approaching.  As we neared the summit, the wind got intense and made it hard to stand at times.  

Last push to the summit

         When we made it to the crater rim at 8,363’ it was extremely windy.  We figured the temperature was in the low 20’s and the wind gusts were at least 40-50mph.  It was still clear and sunny, so we had a great view down into the crater and saw the lava dome.  We could also see Mt. Rainier in the distance.  We didn’t stay very long at the top and made our way down.

Becky and I at the summit/crater rim with Mt. Rainier in the background

Looking down into the crater at the lava dome

Watching as weather approaches

   The trek down soon became a whiteout with snow, blowing snow, and lots of wind.  The boulder field was difficult to hike through.  You couldn’t tell if a hole was between boulders or just a hole in the snow.  My left knee started going out and it was very painful to bend and walk on it the last couple of miles through the trees.  We all made it back to the car midafternoon.  We changed into clean clothes and warmed up in the car on the drive home.  When we stopped for food at Burger King, I couldn’t bend my knee enough to get back in the car.  All of the boys couldn’t stop laughing at me and calling me old!

Becky getting pelted with wind-blown snow

Finally made it back to the trailhead