Mount Saint Helens

 I woke up on Tuesday September 8th looking out the window and seeing something strange. Thick plumes of smoke were moving fast and low across the southern horizon--one ridge away from Cougar, Washington. A wildfire blew up overnight near Carson, Washington...luckily for me it was too far south to pose a threat of overtaking my location during the night, but the threat of the fire spreading downstream across Cougar later in the day didn't seem implausible. So Carly Kovacik and myself packed up our possessions and we both drove our vehicles to Climbers Bivouac south of Mount Saint Helens. We had purchased climbing permits for this date back in March, and it turns out it was one of the biggest easterly offshore wind events of the year. Go figure.

From Climbers Bivouac, Carly and I made quick work of the trail leading to treeline. After exiting treeline the wind immediately picked up, and as we began climbing up towards Monitor Ridge, gusts began to knock us off balance and volcanic dirt flew into our eyes, face, mouth, and any other uncovered parts of our bodies. It would have been easy to quit at this point due to the wind, but neither of us uttered any such words, so onward and upward we went.

As we entered the upper slopes of Saint Helens, portions of the trail that went across small saddle shaped gaps were particularly prone to intense sustained winds. At times I estimated wind speeds were between 70 and 100 mph. I would be stopped dead in my tracks, occasionally being nearly knocked over. Carly admitted she was toppled a few times. The sound of the wind shredding my jacket like a rapidly firing automatic machine gun was something I got used to during much of the ascent. But it was the constant irritation of being pelted with BB size pieces of dust, dirt, and rock that made this climb a truly miserable experience. Nevertheless, we summited, and thankfully, strangely, the wind was calmer at the rim of the volcano. The sky was filled with dust and wildfire smoke, but we still had a good view of the rebuilding volcanic dome and growing glacier below our feet. Mount Rainier was prominent on the horizon as well. We then had an uneventful descent, besides the battle with the wind, and celebrated our summit at Barrel Mountain Brewery in Battle Ground, Washington.

Google map location is here.