Two days after we came down from Rainier, we climbed up to the crater rim of Mt. St. Helens by way of the Monitor Ridge on the mountain's southern flank, which was left intact by the 1980 eruption. The trail rises from 3,700 feet at the trailhead to 4,800 feet at the tree line, beyond which the National Forest Service requires you to have a climber's permit. Because of the popularity of the hike, permits are limited to 100 per day. From the tree line, the route climbs over scree, boulder fields, and snowfields, passing along the way scientific instruments that measure volcanic activity and movement of the tectonic plates.
A spectacular payoff is in store for you once you reach the crater rim at 8,200 feet. In the past five years, the volcano has constructed within the crater a 1,300 foot high lava dome. Vents in the dome emit clouds of gas. Ringing the dome is North America's youngest glacier, which has formed in the three decades since the eruption. To the north of St. Helens is a massive mud plain scored with deep channels. East of the plain there is a lake that was formed when trees uprooted by the explosion damned off a mountain river. Farther to the north of St. Helens sits mighty Mt. Rainier, and to the east, Mt. Adams.
On the descent, Luke and I took a detour to a glacier where we practiced self-arrest and building snow anchors.
Mt. Hood, to the southeast of Mt. St. Helens, is visible in the full sized image.
Mt. Rainier
The lava dome
Mt. Adams
Another shot of Mt. Rainier
The lake that was formed by the 1980 explosion.
July 2, 2009
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