Mount St. Helens 8365' - Monitor Ridge (07-27-11)

View from the top

This was my first major summit. I still get goosebumps thinking of the drive up to the mountain. Somewhere on the forest service road you round a corner and there she sits. Everything changed. I knew that the following day I would be standing on top regardless of where we started or how long it took to get there.

First sight of the mountain

Nostalgia aside, gearing up for the trip was fairly easy. I ended up waiting too long to get my climbing permit from Mount St. Helens Institute so instead I had to buy them from a user on the Cascade Climber Forums. They are $22 a piece and needed when attempting the summit. We signed into the Lone Fir Resort in Cougar, Washington and pitched tents at the Climber's Bivouac.

We started out our day at roughly 5am and spent the 2.1 miles following the Ptarmigan Trail. Just before you break out above the treeline there is a restroom. I recommend using it now as you will most likely have to bluebag it after this point. We had a rough time figuring out where the trail started due to foggy conditions and no footprints. Make sure you keep a compass/map handy and know how to use it. We eventually found a marker in a tree and from there forward there was nice wooden posts most of the way up indicating the trail.

Halfway up!

 We kept bouncing back and forth between snow and rock. I am sure that later in the season it would have just been a nice scramble all the way up. Another defining moment on the mountain was when we got high enough on the ridge to notice Mt. Adams standing mightily to the east. After seeing that, everything just got easier and easier knowing that reaching the top would mean even better views. Several parties passed us as one of the members in our party was having knee issues. He pushed through and we reached the top. Here was another defining moment in my mountaineering career. Reaching the summit was unlike anything I had imagined. I stood proud knowing that I was over-prepared physically and over-came mentally on the way up.

Monitor on Monitor Ridge

We enjoyed our time at the top and even traded some trash bags for a nice cold beer. After getting our summit photos and having a much needed lunch we decided to put on some trash-bag diapers and glissade down. We accidentally glissaded too far west despite multiple warnings at the Lone Fir Resort/Cafe. This left us to scramble back over to monitor ridge across several nasty loose volcanic rocky ridges. Lesson learned! Make sure you know where you are glissading to.


I also learned that you should always apply sunscreen liberally. I was absolutely toasted after this trip and hurt for several days. It took away part of my experience that night when I finally got home.

 

Final Stats:

Summit: Yes
Elevation Gain: 4565'
Round Trip Distance: 11.6 miles
Round Trip Time: 12 hours
FULL GALLERY

On top of the world