Mount St. Helens
Less than a week after my first alpine climb, I was ready for another objective. Climbing Mt. Ellinor opened my eyes to the stunningly wild beauty of the mountains and I wanted more. The next step was to attempt my first volcano—Mount St. Helens.
After doing some research for the climb, I realized I needed a climbing permit and luckily I was able to snag one for a Monday attempt. I decided to give myself the best chance of summiting by camping at the trailhead for an early start the next morning. I parked in the Marble Mountain Sno Park and tent camped behind my Jeep. All of this was new to me—new Jeep, new tent, new sleeping bag, you get the idea. As a kid, I had camped many times, but it had been a long time and never on my own. Now it felt like a great adventure, rekindling a childlike sense of wonder and excitement.
After a good night of sleep in the tent, I rose early and was on the trailhead at 5:15 AM.
I did not own any snowshoes at this point and it turned out that they weren't needed anyway. I carried the microspikes I had acquired for the Mt. Ellinor climb and they ended up being useful on the steeper snow climb sections. I also brought an ice axe for the glissade and a helmet, as I read that whenever an ice axe is being used, you should also wear a helmet.
Breaking above the trees into the alpine with sun illuminating the sparkling mountain brought new energy that propelled me higher. When I reached the rocky "Worm Flows" section, I found it easier to transition to rock for a while before dropping back into the basin on the climber's left for the snow climb. I met an older man taking a breather on the rocks. He had previously summited but was thinking about turning back today and wished me well as I continued on.
The sustained uphill travel was more challenging than what I experienced on Mt. Ellinor, but I had good energy from all the views and was thankful for the fitness I built up in the months prior. For a good part of the climb, I was lagging behind some teenage boys who were charging up the mountain, but I eventually caught up and passed them as they looked gassed, feeling proud of my small accomplishment.
Before long, I saw the top of the mountain drop lower on the horizon, a sign that I was "almost there". Soon I saw skis parked in the snow and heard the voices of other climbers standing near the top. I had made it to crater's edge, taking in the crater view but keeping a safe distance from the edge, as this area is corniced and prone to collapse under the weight of a human.
The crater rim viewpoint is not the high point and to get there would require tracing around the rim to climber's left, marked as "Monitor Ridge Climbing Route" on the map. I talked with a few climbers and we joked that anything less than standing on the true summit was "only an attempt". Not wanting to be denied my first volcano summit, I traveled down an established boot path to a low point, losing about 100 feet of elevation before regaining another 200 feet to the true summit. From the initial viewpoint at crater's edge, the trip to the summit took about 20 minutes.
On the summit, I met a couple of climbers who remarked that it was nice to be out of cell range in the backcountry as a sort of "forced vacation" from our phones. Of course we were checking our phones for service at that point, but I didn't have it. One of them mentioned that he was training for an upcoming Rainier summit bid. Hearing him talk, it felt like such a huge and out of reach objective. Little did I know at that moment, I'd be climbing Rainier myself in just a couple of months.
Back at crater's edge, I met a graduate student from the University of British Columbia who was traveling solo. She was studying geology and as a non-climber, was drawn to the climb for an up close look at the volcano's geological features. We talked for awhile and ended up traveling downhill together for part of the trip back. I was thankful for the company as I was still feeling somewhat unsure of myself in this new terrain.
We ended up glissading in several established chutes on the way back, capping an excellent first volcano climb, with more to come.
Starting elevation: 2,618 ft Elevation gain: 5,595 ft Max elevation: 8,327 ft Distance: 10.7 mi Time: 9h 32m