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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.
