Saint Helens Re-Opens!!!

[Winter]

The Mt. St. Helens Institute is a legit orgnaization, but I think this is complete BS to use a closure as an excuse to change the system and squeeze more mooney out of the public. For an organization that is supposed to educate the public, it seems like jacking up service fees for climbing permits would run counter to their mission.

[scot'teryx]

So even though it is via a contractor, you still need to wait for Jacks to open or try and get there before they close the night before?

 

Total cost per permit is $22. The $15 permit fee will be used by the Forest Service to manage the climbing program, and maintain roads and facilities. The $7 service charge will be used by the Mount St. Helens Institute to fund permit processing and to help support the Mount St. Helens climbing program through educational and resource management programs.

 

I thought the Sno Park permits would help road maintenance but I guess that's just for snow removal and cross country trail maintenance.

 

Wilderness Areas

36 CFR 261 prohibits mechanized and motorized equipment in wilderness areas.This means snowmobiles are not allowed in wilderness areas. Cross-country skiing is allowed. Please note that some of the groomed snowmobile trails run parallel with the Wilderness boundaries. Keep snowmobiles outside Wilderness areas. Entering the Wilderness on motorized vehicles will result in a citation.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/winter/recreation-areas/mount-st-helens.shtml#permits

 

How come this has NEVER been enforced on the mountain?

[mc_tree]

Mt. St. Helens is not a wilderness area. The fee is excessive and the reservation system is bad. Who complained about the masses of hikers on Mother's Day in the past. If you want solitude don't go up Monitor Ridge.

[Roy]

I am assuming this will be in addition to the NW Forest Pass required to park at Climbers Bivouac

 

You get a free one day parking permit with your climbing permit. Whoopee!

[Roy]

Mt. St. Helens is not a wilderness area. The fee is excessive and the reservation system is bad. Who complained about the masses of hikers on Mother's Day in the past. If you want solitude don't go up Monitor Ridge.

 

I do not understand the mothers day thing I was there when they reopened the Mt after 1980. There was a short time of no quotas. But from the get go they planed on 100 per day.

 

The permits were free for some time, and on holiday weekends they seemed to ignore the 100 limit. You could walk in and get one and no one cared.

 

Before the parking permits if you were fit you could go permit less. And out run the rangers if you saw one.

 

Not that I would ever do such a thing.

[scholle4]

The St Helens web site says that the FS road #830 to the climbers bivuac is closed. Is there still snow on it? Any idea when it will be open? If you have a permit to climb on the 21st, where are you going to have to start from?

Also....I went through the reservation process today all the way up to the point that they want your credit card info and commit to buy....is it after you commit that they are going to tell you wether or not there are permits available for the date chosen??? It would be nice if you could check dates and availability so that you could see how fast they are filling up and wait as long as possible for a good weather forecast before you commit.

[mc_tree]

<I do not understand the mothers day thing I was there when they reopened the Mt after 1980. There was a short time of no quotas. But from the get go they planed on 100 per day.>

 

St. Helens reopened in 1987. No fees were charged up to April 1, and there was a quota beginning May 15. Six years out of seven Mother's Day is prior to May 15, and typically there was a mass of climbers going up some dressed like Mom.

 

In the past there was a Cascade Volcanoes permit which enabled you to climb Adams or St. Helens for $30 for the season provided you also had a reservation during the reservation system. Not now. Write to Congressman Brian Baird and the Monument to get a season pass system in place that would include the entire spring period and a reduction in the cost of this system. In the past if you had a reservation and the visibility was zero you did not use your pass. Now you lose $22 to make the reasonable decision to go somewhere else in bad weather. Perhaps someone will walk off the edge because they can't see in a whiteout and didn't want their $22 to go to waste.

[amochka]

The St Helens web site says that the FS road #830 to the climbers bivuac is closed. Is there still snow on it? Any idea when it will be open? If you have a permit to climb on the 21st, where are you going to have to start from?

 

I thought that was strange as well when I went to the website, but I'm guessing that since people aren't officially allowed to climb until the 21st, maybe the road is 'closed' until then. The road must be open in terms of road conditions, since a large group went up the mountain yesterday on a 'preview' climb (front of Oregonian today)....

They must figure that the only reason you'd be up at the climbers bivy is to start up the monitor ridge trail, and since you're not supposed to be there yet, there's no reason to offically open the road until the 20th...

 

I have a few extra passes for sunday the 23rd if anyone is interested in them...

 

amy

[scholle4]

Rock on! We have 7 permits to climb on July 26th! If you are climbing it before then...please put up a report...We would love to hear current info. As crazy as it is - I hope we get a 3.6 quake when were up ther so we can have a rock slide show like there was yesterday at 10AM. Check out the pix:

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/MSH04/framework.html

[Cobra_Commander]

 

Looks like nothing but a good time.

 

I wonder if you can do an evening climb to see the thing glowing.

[esullender]

I've got one extra permit for this Saturday, July 22nd. Let me know if you're interested in it or possibly trading for a different day.

 

I'm not sure how it all works, so my guess is that you'd probably need to meet me at Jack's the night before when I pick it up (since you need to sign a waiver). That, or maybe I can leave it there for you if you want to arrive Sat. morning.. does Jack's do will-call?

Edited July 20, 2006 by esullender

[wannabe]

Anyone have thoughts on what gear, if any would be needed this time of year for Monitor Ridge? Would a ski pole be enough? I am guessing that most of the snow on the route is now gone.

[slaphappy]

When is a ski pole not enough to get up St. Helens?

 

-

[freezerburn]

Any trip reports? We have a permit for next weekend and would love to hear about the conditions.

[esullender]

I went up yesterday. This is my first TR, so if I've left out any details that you care about feel free to ask.

 

Two friends and I left Portland at about 7pm on Friday. We got our permits at Jack's and then continued on to the climber's bivouac. Based on the list the cashier at Jack's was using we were one of the last few groups to check in. As we were signing the register we ran into a friendly family of four who had just gotten off the mountain and were rewarding themselves with cones of soft-serve. They were more than happy to answer all of our questions and wished us luck on our climb.

 

It was fairly crowded but we were able to find a spot to pitch our tent at the bivouac. It was dark by the time we got setup, so we had to do all of our eating and packing by headlamp. Next time I'll definitely leave Portland earlier to allow more time at camp.

 

By the time we got everything done at night and turned in we had about 4 hours of sleep until our 3:15am wake-up for a 4am start. We decided to get an early start because of the extreme heat predicted for the day (89F in Cougar by 11am). Knowing that there would be 97 other people joining us on the mountain only added to our desire to get up and out early.

 

I woke up before my alarm to the sounds of other groups getting ready for the climb. Besides one fool who was laughing hysterically at what sounded like his helmet dropping on the ground, everyone else was courteous to those choosing to get a later start.

 

We were on our way by 4am, as planned. I estimated less than a half dozen groups ahead of us. We kept a slow, steady pace and made good time. When we stopped to use the bathroom at just past the two mile mark we encountered a couple of other groups right behind us.

 

The climb up was uneventful. We, as did just about everyone else, stayed on the rock trail. There were sporadic patches of snow to the sides of the ridge, but they didn't seem to offer any overall efficiency on the way up or the way down. The trail itself was clear of snow all the way to and including the crater rim.

 

We didn't run into anyone coming down until we were almost at the top. We reached the rim at 9am, 5 hours after starting. The rim was crowded, which was not unexpected. There was a regular flow of people coming and going for the half-hour we were there. After lunch and some photos we started back down. The step-sliding the first quarter mile off the rim was the one time that I was glad I had my gaiters with me.

 

The way down, as did the way up, consisted of leapfrogging a number groups. We picked our way along the rocks down to timberline. Once in the trees we decided that instead of sticking around to get eaten by the vicious black flies we would just push on to the car. We got back to the car at 1pm, making the round-trip time exactly 9 hours... about what we were expecting.

 

The overcast day really helped tame the heat we were expecting. The few raindrops that hit us when we were an hour from the top were a refreshing welcome. It did start to get hot as we were coming down, and we didn't envy those we passed who had slept in and got a later start.

 

The best thing I carried with my were my trekking poles. These were invaluable in navigating the rocks and helping to prevent the whole "one step forward, two steps back" progress on the scree. I didn't need the ice ax except for my attempt at glissading, which, as I mentioned above, wasn't really worth the effort.

 

It was windy and dusty towards the top, so I was also glad I had a good pair of sunglasses. Mine have interchangeable lenses which helped in the overcast conditions.

 

Only at the summit did I wear anything heavier than polypro, although on some of the more windy stops I did put a long-sleeve shirt over my t-shirt.

 

I took over four liters of water with me. Had it been any hotter I probably would've wished I had more. I also wish I had brought some strong bug spray to make the last two miles through the trees more enjoyable.

 

Overall it was a great hike and I'd do it again in an instant. However, I would like to see what it's like earlier in the season when there's more snow.

 

-Eric

[amochka]

Just got back from our climb today, Sunday 23rd of July. Similar to esullender's experience. We got to the climbers bivy about 5:30 pm, which was pretty late. We had to scrounge around for a campsite for our group of seven.

Friendly ranger gavea talk at the trailhead at 7 pm, which most of the people there attended. He talked about the conditions, what to expect on the trail, some history of recent eruptive events, etc.

I would HIGHLY recommend bug spray for the climbers bivy. There were some very nasty biting flies all around.

The ranger told everyone that they shouldn't leave past about 4 or 5 am, because people had become pretty heat exhausted that day by the afternoon.

Our group left at 2 am. Headlamps the whole way up, a little tough picking out trail just below monitor ridge, but scan around for the big posts marking the trail, and you can pretty much figure it out.

Sunrise just short of the summit. Amazing volcanic activity at the top, sulfur vents spewing yellow smoke, rocks falling on the heap/fin and making a lot of noise.

Summit was at 6:30am. Stayed up there about 45 minutes to an hour. Headed down, started to get really hot around 9 am. Some members of the party used the snowfields rather than pick a path through tedious pumice boulder fields. They attempted some glissading, but didn't work well, not steep enough.

Biting flies welcomed us back to treeline, back to camp at 10:30 am.

This was my third time up, the last being in 2004 before they closed it to climbing. Things are MUCH different in the crater...it was incredible.

Highly recommend very early start if it's hot out. I had 3 1/2 liters on me and finished the last sip when we got to camp. Others in our group drank a lot more than that. Many people had waited until sunrise to head up and looked absolutely miserable headed up as we were heading back down.

 

enjoy! should be cooler next weekend...

[freezerburn]

More info needed:

What boots were you wearing? Do you recommend plastic boots?

Any other clothing recommendations?

How far from the parking lot is the climber's bivy?

Did you wear your helmet all the way up?

[esullender]

>What boots were you wearing? Do you recommend plastic boots?

 

Leather hiking boots. I don't recommed platic unless you're a masochist.

 

>Any other clothing recommendations?

 

Just the basic layers and protection against unexpected mountain weather.

 

>How far from the parking lot is the climber's bivy?

 

For the most part they are one and the same.

 

>Did you wear your helmet all the way up?

 

No, I only had the helmet with me in case the volcano started spewing rocks.. which luckily it didn't. I guess there were some spots with rocks above me that, had there been any seismic activity, could have posed a danger... but I didn't put the helmet on once.

[amochka]

More info needed:

What boots were you wearing? Do you recommend plastic boots?

Any other clothing recommendations?

How far from the parking lot is the climber's bivy?

Did you wear your helmet all the way up?

 

 

 

Definitely not a climb for plastic boots. It was a dry climb from start to finish, no snow to cross unless you want to use it on the way down to avoid boulder hopping. Plastics would be too hot and unnecessary. I'd wear something comfortable. More importantly, wear gaiters or make sure your pants secure around your boots somehow to avoid getting ash/pumice in your boots.

Clothing recommendation: keep yourself covered, the sun exposure can be intense up there, everyone in our party wore long sleeves (cotton top) and long pants (with zip off bottoms so if it got super hot you'd be in shorts). Recommend layering, and definitely don't forget a sun hat or some sort for the trip back down. You may want some lightweight gloves, as the boulder fields you scramble up have kind of sharp volcanic rock. A few people in our group wore some thin gloves during those sections.

 

The parking lot and climbers bivy are the same thing. You park and throw your tent down and then in the morning you walk about 20 steps to the trailhead to start the climb.

Don't forget your bug spray.

Helmets: no one up there had one on, but a few of us threw it in the bottom of our packs figuring the only time we'd really need it is if the mountain burped/erupted and starting throwing rocks. There's no rockfall on the route, so no real need to wear a helmet up there.

The people who looked most comfortable on the mountain had left really early, carried a lot of water, wore long pants or gaiters and were slathering on sunscreen and using trekking poles on the descent.

A friend from our group posted a trip report on summitpost.org in the forum section under the mt.st.helens discussion thread...he attached a few photos too. You could check that out....have fun! It's a great climb right now with all the volcanic activity happening...

[rbw1966]

More info needed:

What boots were you wearing? Do you recommend plastic boots?

Any other clothing recommendations?

How far from the parking lot is the climber's bivy?

Did you wear your helmet all the way up?

 

Fish on!!!

 

[MtnBoy]

Don't support the fee system.

 

Easiest way to defeat the system is don't participate. What do the fees pay for? Rescue, no the county does that. Trail maintenance, what is your NW forest pass for. The only decernable addition to the mountain are anoying ticket takers posing as rangers who only check your permit.

 

It is absolutely rediculous that snow mobilers are able to go to the rim with out fee and to walk you have to pay.

 

Vote with your skis by only summiting during the off, non-fee, season.

 

Fight the man

[PaulO]

Got extra passes for Sunday (day after tomorrow). Anybody want to take any off my hands?

[Roy]

Did it last Sunday,no bugs at all and my wife wore tennis shoes. she had very little problems with the scree but she is light.

Wow what a change in the crater well worth it.

 

Saw a couple of very serious rangers on the hill,had some nice gear, and I asked one if he was happy I payed for it.He seemed offended. USFS needs some CS training

 

All in all a relaxing hike with a one in million view.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

What is the penalty for climbing w/o a permit, and how serious are they about enforcing the permits?

 

Can you avoid the permit system by going up another route?

[Roy]

They dont look at your permit if they can see it on your pack. If you leave late sombody would probley give you one on thier way down

You can go from bute camp I do not think they watch that area.

Before this last event I know for a fact they had only given warnings and never a fine.

But I have no idea what they are doing now, it seemed more relaxed in the past.

Times change as do fees.