tent village in St Helens crater

General discussions on hiking in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest
User avatar
Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

tent village in St Helens crater

Post by Chip Down » June 17th, 2018, 8:42 pm

The view from St Helens crater rim always impresses, but today I saw something new: A cluster of tents just east of the dome. From the tents, there's a short trial that probably goes to latrine/garbage, but there's also a long trail that ascends and curves up south of the dome. It dead-ends at what I'm guessing is a research site. There are no other trails, so presumably everything is going in/out by helicopter. Of course, I'm not surprised there's research being conducted in the crater, but it was a neat surprise to see tents down there! From my vantage, it appeared the tents wouldn't be visible from the summit, but please correct me if I'm wrong. The trail, however, is almost certainly visible. I wonder how many summiters notice.
Attachments
IfYouLivedHereYou'dBeHomeAlready.jpg

User avatar
jeffstatt
Posts: 3820
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by jeffstatt » June 18th, 2018, 5:13 am

Wow! Super interesting!

User avatar
K.Wagner
Posts: 652
Joined: June 2nd, 2013, 1:25 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by K.Wagner » June 19th, 2018, 9:10 am

So, from the picture angle, I assume you were on the 8140 summits, east of the Shoestring glacier canyon?
Kelly
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going to.

PM me about the soon to be released:
Skamania 231
"How to really get off the beaten path in Skamania County"

User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by kepPNW » June 19th, 2018, 10:08 am

No, the tents weren't visible from the summit yesterday, but the tracks and researchers were. They were crawling around the dome, too. Friend of mine is with them. Said his goal was "to survive." (I think they're thriving, from what I saw!) They went in last Wed or Thur and are coming out today. Carried most of it from Windy, I think.

Image
See the drone (cleverly circled in bootprints)?

Image
Rimshot, zoomed out a bit. 6/18/18
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

User avatar
K.Wagner
Posts: 652
Joined: June 2nd, 2013, 1:25 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by K.Wagner » June 19th, 2018, 11:19 am

Ok, no need to correct me, I just saw your TR!
Kelly
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going to.

PM me about the soon to be released:
Skamania 231
"How to really get off the beaten path in Skamania County"

User avatar
Chip Down
Posts: 3037
Joined: November 8th, 2014, 8:41 pm

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by Chip Down » June 19th, 2018, 6:07 pm

Jeff: Only interesting to geeks :geek: But glad you agree. :D

K1: I figured you'd run into my TR. Anyway, regarding your first guess, is that still on your to-do list? I think it looks only moderately interesting, and the approach looks like a PITA. I might go scout it next weekend, but probably with no intent of sneaking past the climbing rangers who are certainly stationed there checking permits. Of course, if things go unusually well, I might keep going up. I guess Ape approach would be better than June.

K2: I could see that orange cigar-shaped thing, but your pic shows more detail than I could get. I guessed it was a conveyance of sorts, a sled to carry gear. Up close (your pic) it looks like that's probably right.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. This is a pretty obscure topic for discussion on a hiking board, so I'm pleased to see it garnered some attention.

User avatar
adamschneider
Posts: 3711
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: SE Portland
Contact:

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by adamschneider » June 19th, 2018, 10:17 pm

I was on the north side today (Johnston Ridge, Truman Trail, Loowit Falls), and at one point I saw a helicopter carrying something away from the crater. From a distance, it looked like a firefighting water bucket.
helicopter.jpg
helicopter.jpg (4.39 KiB) Viewed 2757 times

User avatar
romann
Posts: 2417
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by romann » June 20th, 2018, 2:09 pm

Cool shot of the camp. There was an Oregon Field Guide story about them a couple years ago, camping & doing some research in the crater. Cannot find it in the Archives right now. Maybe we'll see another story soon.

I recall in that old episode, when geologists were done the weather didn't allow helicopter to land and pick them up, so they waited for days; finally it was like 1/2 an hour weather window and pilot could help them evacuate in a hurry, but they had to abandon their camp/equipment in the crater for awhile.

User avatar
K.Wagner
Posts: 652
Joined: June 2nd, 2013, 1:25 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by K.Wagner » June 20th, 2018, 2:46 pm

Of you're up there Saturday, say hi!

Did you see rangers in this trip?
Kelly
There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going to.

PM me about the soon to be released:
Skamania 231
"How to really get off the beaten path in Skamania County"

User avatar
kepPNW
Posts: 6411
Joined: June 21st, 2012, 9:55 am
Location: Salmon Creek

Re: tent village in St Helens crater

Post by kepPNW » June 20th, 2018, 4:03 pm

romann wrote:
June 20th, 2018, 2:09 pm
Cool shot of the camp. There was an Oregon Field Guide story about them a couple years ago, camping & doing some research in the crater. Cannot find it in the Archives right now. Maybe we'll see another story soon.

I recall in that old episode, when geologists were done the weather didn't allow helicopter to land and pick them up, so they waited for days; finally it was like 1/2 an hour weather window and pilot could help them evacuate in a hurry, but they had to abandon their camp/equipment in the crater for awhile.
Thanks, Roman! Yeah, it was pretty cool watching them roaming all over down there. And that OFG episode is a MUST-SEE for anyone interested in the volcano, glaciers, ice caves, etc...

https://www.opb.org/television/programs ... gment/beh/

Took some shots of that ice cave entrance last summer, but it's either collapsed or still snow-covered so far this year.

Image
14-Sep-2017

K.Wagner wrote:
June 20th, 2018, 2:46 pm
Did you see rangers in this trip?
Saw my first and only climbing ranger, ever, on June 10. New hire, young, with very strong legs.
Karl
Back on the trail, again...

Post Reply