Justin Wright went hiking May 22, 2011 12 miles 5,500 feet gained

Mt St Helens

Went up St Helens today and had a blast. We made it to the top without using any snowshoes but the snow was pretty deep at the top. Weather turned out to be great and had a nice view of the crater as well as Mt. Rainier at the top.

Despite hiking in the snow all day, I was amazed at how HOT it was up there. It actually felt like the middle of summer up there. The sun was fricken brutal even though I kept putting on sunscreen. Have a nice burn on my neck where I must have missed a spot but other than that I'm feeling great.

PS. I posted a full report on my blog.

Trail Talk

3 people have hearted this trip.

Eric Peterson · May 23, 2011

Nice job man :)

Did you park at Marblehead? I not done Helens, on my short list but probably too late for this spring legally...

Justin Wright · May 23, 2011

Yeah we left from Marble Mountain sno-park

Roman · May 24, 2011

Congrats on the summit! This snow should go fast (I hope).

I am thinking about an approach from Ape Canyon because it would be less crowded, but not sure if I'll find enough time for training this spring/summer.

Eric Peterson · May 31, 2011

Hey Justin, was the snow park season pass over when you parked at Marble Mountain?

Justin Wright · May 31, 2011

Hey Eric, we car pooled with someone else so I'm not sure if they had a snow park pass or not.

I just looked at the Forest Service site and it says the snow park season ended in April so my guess is you should be fine without one.

Justin Wright · May 31, 2011

PS. You thinking about climbing it?

Eric Peterson · May 31, 2011

Cool, thanks :)

Eric Peterson · May 31, 2011

Yes, thinking heavily on it, sometime in June before the Discovery Pass is enacted in July and also want to do it when there is snow rather than the pumice and ash hotter than all get out hike in July and August...

Eric Peterson · May 31, 2011

Oops, I guess the new Discovery Pass is only for WA state parks and WA DNR lands, not national parks or monuments inside WA.

Justin Wright · May 31, 2011

Yeah I've heard it's actually better in the snow than in the ash. I'd love to go back up there on a perfectly clear day to see the views. There were a lot of clouds when I went up so we didn't get to see that far in the distance other than a few cloud breaks.

Eric Peterson · June 1, 2011

Carpool, I can tag along? Pick a good weather day though. Looks like weekdays are still readily available in June too :) I'm out for this week though. Fairly certain I can huff it up all in one motion, did South Sister a few years ago when I wasn't in near this good of shape but there was no snow, so I'm factoring in the step kicking which is brutal. I could be full of crap though and fall over dead on the way up... hhehe

Justin Wright · June 1, 2011

lol, I'm sure you won't fall over dead. I'm definitely game for doing it on a weekday this month and carpooling up there. We just need to find a day with a 0% chance of rain :)

Eric Peterson · June 1, 2011

I'll check my work situation today, but the 10th might be good. It's also the day right before the Rose Parade which usually means the weather is nice and sunny, then the rain comes in for the parade, but yeah, I don't want to do it in overcast weather. That's a ton of work to get non views. :)

https://secure.kinsail.com/calendar.asp?p=mshi&pt=parks&ItemID=494604&GroupID=18101

Just hope the 10th isn't a day my boss was taking off in which case I'd have to try it for the following week...

Justin Wright · June 2, 2011

Hmm right now the 8th and 9th look like the best days weatherwise but that could easily change in a few days. If the 10th turns out to look like a nice day that works for me. Otherwise the following week works as well.

Eric Peterson · June 4, 2011

Whew... I'm going to do a big hike tomorrow or Sunday to make sure my knee is going to be cool and if me knee is good to go, I'm looking at the 10th, KATU is showing partly cloudy. Won't really know until Monday at the earliest on both counts, but the quota is half gone now too for that day... heh This might be too tough to coordinate... :)