Mount Saint Helens (3rd attempt) and Trout Lake Area Caving 2013-10-11

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I attempted to summit Mount Saint Helens twice this February, turning back the first time due to weather, and stopping at the crater rim the second time because of dangerous snow conditions. I was determined to make it this time and planned to bring rope, a picket and a harness if there was any chance of snow just to be sure. Ben and Colin were available to join me on one of the last few days left with permits available. Ben and I were both interested in revisiting some Trout Lake area caves and Colin was game so we left Tacoma on Thursday night ready for a long weekend of adventure.



Based on my past experience I suggested we bring snowshoes and start early to avoid the soft snow. We all felt surprisingly fresh when we pulled up to Climber's Bivouac at 11:30 and agreed that 3 hours of sleep wouldn't be worth much, so after a hour meal and gear check we were on the way up by 12:15 am. Just past the junction we excited the treeline and started up Monitor Ridge into a solid layer of clouds. Snow began to appear around 5000 feet and covered most of the rock after 6000. The seismic station and antenna were covered in several inches of rime. By 4 am we emerged above the clouds around 7000 feet, confident that we would reach the crater rim before sunrise. Even this high up patches of exposed earth, mostly in vertical strips (likely due to strong wind drifts). This was very helpful during the last few hundred feet where the snow surface turned solid and icy.



We did a good job of pacing ourselves to avoid getting sweaty, which payed off as we dug a trench on the false summit and huddled together awaiting the sun. An hour and a half later it finally rose almost directly behind Mount Adams. The true summit beckoned, but after 20 minutes of battling the stiff icy surface without crampons it became painfully obvious that I had led us up the mountain unprepared, without the proper tools to achieve the summit.






We headed down towards the rising cloud layer at 8:30. We had fun glissading for about 1000 feet of the descent before the snow faded away. We shared beta with about 50 people on their way up, most of whom were less prepared than us, without ice axes for self-arrest. We were back at the truck just after noon and quickly loaded up for a few more hours of driving to our planned camp near Trout Lake, stopping first in Cougar to sign out at the Lone Fir Resort.



We stopped at several potential cave entrances that we noticed along our route, hoping to find something worth exploring. We pulled up to camp with enough light to set up and get a fire going. The entrance to Dynamited was just a short walk from our campsite. We briefly discussed the possibility of a short exploration, but decided that after 40 hours with no sleep we would be best off getting a good nights rest and starting fresh in the morning.


We entered Dynomited at 11:45 am on Saturday. The same salamander that we had seen several months ago was hanging out on a rock near the entrance just like last time. We all down climbed the first 15 foot drop then stopped shortly at the small lava falls about 300 feet before the first big drop. This section had very little breakdown in a few isolated spots.

 

Trout Lake Caving 6-6-2013

On Friday night I drove down to Trout Lake with James, Ben and Barry and set up camp well after midnight near an extensive multi-leveled lava tube called "Dynamited". We got going as early as our bodies would allow the next morning. First we explored the small attic space near the entrance, then continued on to the first drop off, where we rigged a rope for rappelling (although it was hardly necessary).

The next drop features a dramatic flow frozen into the rock floor where it disappears. Near the edge we found a ~6 inch long sprout from a seed in the remains of a pear core, left behind by an irresponsible caver. Several insects were cruising around on the pear carcass. After examining the "Balloon" we rappelled the ~50 feet to the Ballroom and then another ~60 feet down into a blind pit full of decorations.

We lacked the rock pro to rig a safe passage over the blind pit where the Big Room and Attic Passage are, so we returned to the last drop and used our last rope to ascend onto the Balloon and into the passage beyond it. Here we found some intense red scrolling and a cool little gallery at the end of the line. Halfway between the balloon gap and this dead end is another access point to the Attic Passage and the half of the cave that we didn't see.

With no rope left, we returned to the first and smallest drop and into the 1000 foot long tube below it and the main entrance. We explored dozens of small "sand castles" along the way and entered a very tight squeeze a little over halfway back. After about 40 feet, the shrinking passage opened into a huge room with possibly the tallest ceilings we had seen all day, at around 50 feet high. we followed the large room to it's end where a large pile of breakdown disappears into the ceiling less than 50 feet below the surface.

This was my favorite caving trip yet and by far the most eventful- I made my first couple of rappels in a cave, found some interesting lifeforms to look at(we also found a salamander near the entrance), and met a few members of the Oregon Grotto on our way out. We also made a quick stop at the Ice Cave before heading back to Seattle. Not much ice is left this late into the summer, but we did more exploring than we had planned to and found a few decent photo opportunities.



Dynomited Cave Map (.pdf)