All of us being novice snowshoers, each of us having only bought the things this year (this was my third time out), we thought we'd take a fairly straight-forward trip away from all those pesky trees. Little did we know, it may have been one of the best days ever for what we decided to do! Last weekend, we had the whiteout between sunny days. Finding that non-optimal, we plotted to return at the next opportunity. Wow! What a day. One I know I'll never forget.
Peder, Acorn Woodpecker, and I met up in Salmon Creek at 6am, and carpooled to the Marble Mountain Sno-Park on the southern flanks of Mount Saint Helens. This made sense not only from the conservation standpoint, but also because Washington is an incredibly expensive place to park! $20 for a one-day pass. Yikes. At least you can get them online.
We set out from the parking lot about 7:40am, and took this shot at 1:00pm (after soaking in the glorious surroundings a bit):
Group shot on the crater rim. The fellow on the right is a new friend we made on the way up,
who will probably be swinging through here now that we told him about PH.
Marble Mountain offers quite a nice array of XC and snowshoe trails. It was about 34°F at the parking lot, and the snow was still quite hard. I started in microspikes, because it seemed easier than carrying them. The other guys were just in boots. The first two miles travel through the forest, and barely ascend 900'.
Anticipation was high, as the dark blue and bright white shone ahead.
I have heard, more times than the subject has probably come up, that climbing MSH is "just a slog!" It's usually said in the most derisive manner imaginable. Well, the winter scenery on Friday so more than made up for the slog aspect, that it's, well, nearly indescribable.
As soon as we broke out of the woods, the scenery just exploded!
We traveled 2.5 miles without snowshoes.
Site of Chocolate Falls, in warmer times.
About "half-way there" (mileage, not EG!), we had started to sink in a bit, so we stopped to put on our snowshoes. I stripped out of my baselayer at this point, too. It was just getting way too warm, already!
Mt. Hood was with us on the southern horizon all day. As we climbed, Jeff and the Sisters appeared too.
Pretty soon, Mt. Adams appeared on the eastern horizon, and was with us from then on.
In the winter, there's no (easy) way to get to Climber's Bivouac to follow the traditional Monitor Ridge climbing route. We instead took the Worm Flows climbing route, named after immediately recognizable worm-shaped lava flows coming down the side of the volcano.
Our route would follow the "worm" dead-center in this photo.
The party ahead of us, ascending the worm. 15 people scaled MSH this fine day.
AW coming up the worm.
One worm over, a skier and his dog made steady progress in parallel to ours.
A group perhaps an hour ahead of us had abandoned their snowshoes at 5000', choosing to go with crampons from that point upward. At this point, for us, the snow was definitely starting to soften up - no ice at all. They also flagged their route, carefully placing a new flag about every 1/2 mile or so, presumably to help them down in case of a whiteout?
Snowshoe cache at 5000'. (Photo credit: Peder)
We had eye-balled a little knoll at about 5600', and thought that'd make a great place for a snack break. Peder proved to be a mountaineering motorman! His pace was steady the entire way up, hardly ever pausing other than for an occasional photo. Just an amazing show of endurance!
Peder motoring up the steepest stretch we'd encountered yet.
There was a USGS seismograph and transmitter here, to monitor the volcano.
This was one of the few flat spots we encountered, once the real climb began.
I took advantage of a nice nearby rock. This was the only time I sat down all day, honest.
(Photo credit: Peder)
I think I mentioned the scenery was spectacular?
Cool little knob at 6000'.
Fabulous wave-like cornices on the ridges.
Silver Star and Little Baldy were shiny jewels to the south. (Mt. Mitchell in foreground?)
The folks without snowshoes were now cutting switchbacks into the mountainside, while it was far easier for us to just go straight on up.
No route-finding skills needed today!
AW scopes out the ascent route.
There was pretty much a single trail of footprints going up at this point.
Unfortunately, I suffered an equipment failure of a most dire nature. My water hose seems to have developed an air leak, and that pretty much crippled my water supply. As I'd suck, it was probably supplying 90% air and 10% water. Not only was that frustrating, but it also led to gas (from swallowed air) of a most unpleasant nature. Subsequently, I was really hurting on that last 1000' or so, suffering from multiple dehydration symptoms. The other guys beat me up there, by some distance. At the top, I discovered my 2L bladder was about 1/3 full.
But I did have the opportunity to make a new friend who was slowed to my pace by the ski boots he was climbing in.
Peder and AW beat me up there, by a bit.
I crested the summit 5h5m from the trailhead. The first thing I hear on my arrival was that they could see from the Olympics and Canada to the Three Sisters to the Pacific. It was just astounding! No way you'd get anything approaching this clarity in our typical summer haze!
One of my favorite shots of the day. Peder taking in the magnificent views!
North view overlooking Spirit Lake and on to Mount Rainier.
The true summit of MSH. We were close enough. No footprints were visible beyond our position.
Mount Adams and the eastern crater rim.
Spectacular cliffs on the western rim of the caldera...
... and the eastern rim too! Goat Rocks in distance.
Obligatory "I was there" stickpic self-portrait!
Quick west to east pan, looking north.
Although the sky was clear in virtually every direction, there was a persistent layer of clouds that hung in there all day long just north of Mount Hood. We speculated bunches, but never came up with (what I felt) was a good explanation...
Why were these clouds holding tight there all day long, when the entire PNW was cloud-free?
While the air was almost dead still most of the way up, on the summit it was persistent at 20-30mph, and quite chilly. I had to put my baselayer top back on, a wind breaker and gloves too. We were probably up there for about 45 minutes, or so.
The descent was steep, and the snow was softening rapidly!
Nowhere to go, now, but down!
Less than 1000' from the top, we took off the snowshoes as they were hindering the descent.
Did I mention the scenery was spectacular? No one, this day, called it "a slog!"
Very cool snow patterns. Lake Merwin shimmering in distance.
Fabulous snow waves. Unrelenting sun. Indescribable shadows.
I stood mesmerized for some time. (Photo by Acorn Woodpecker.)
Peder waiting for us dilly-dallying photographers to catch up at 5600'.
Three Shadowy Amigos!
Descending a worm.
We began postholing again, sometimes to the hip, a bit below 5000'. So we put our snowshoes back on at that point, and wore them all the way back to the trailhead.
Looking over our shoulder. The 4:00 shadows were starting to appear.
Snowmobile tracks were clearly visible, coming down from the rim.
The last two miles were uneventful. All in all, these were the 10 longest miles I've ever hiked!
Last up top; First back down! (Photo credit: Peder)
I think each of us, at some point, or probably at many points, expressed that this was "a day I'd never forget!" They just don't get any better, folks. We hit the perfect hole in this unpredictable weather. I'm sure it was in the 45-50°F on the descent.
The final stats weren't all that unimpressive, either, from a beginner snowshoe perspective at any rate. The elevation gain really deserves to be broken down mile-by-mile:
- Mile 1: 370' EG
Mile 2: 500' EG
Mile 3: 950' EG
Mile 4: 1820' EG
Mile 5: 1970' EG
- Mile 1: 370' EG
Last two miles to the summit? 3800' EG!
http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=2094&w=645&h=440
Not bad for a bunch of beginners?
EDIT: Glibness aside, as Peder mentions downthread, MSH is a very real mountain. Although we picked a day where anyone in fairly decent physical fitness could've made it to the summit, doing so without a modicum of mountaineering sense could easily have proven fatal. There are cornices overhanging dropoffs that range from "that would hurt!" to "goodbye cruel world!" We fortunately didn't run into any ice that would've required ice axes and crampons, but that's also a strong possibility we were aware of, and prepared to turn around in the face of. Be careful out there!
