St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

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Chip Down
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St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Chip Down » June 18th, 2018, 6:42 pm

When I attempted to ascend Shoestring Glacier last year, I failed, but had a lot of fun getting to the crater rim via an unnamed route. In doing so, I spotted a fun-looking ridge roughly west (i.e. clockwise) from my route. June 17 was my opportunity to take a shot at it.

After a couple hours of trail hiking, I left Loowit Trail at 4000' (hard to describe where; I should have taken a picture), and hopped through lavaflow towards a steep snowfilled gully. At the top, I was surprised at how scenic it was. I was expecting much more lavaflow. My hope was that I'd find enough snow or sandy stretches that I could easily get to the steep snowfields that would take me to the rim. What I encountered was a surprisingly complex set of canyons, snowy-sandy prominences, flowers, water features...just the sort of thing you'd hope to find on a volcano going through its spring thaw.

Routefinding was fun. I put together a strategy, but in executing it I discovered (as one often does) how radically different things look up close. I even managed to get lost a time or two, in the sense that I wasn't sure how my immediate surroundings fit into the big picture. Lots of "should I zig or should I zag" questions. I now realize I would have picked a more straightforward route if I had paid more attention to the overview pic I took when I exited the top of that first gully I described. But that's okay, it was fun.

The ridgecrest isn't nearly as direct and straightforward as it appears in pics. Rather than try to stay on crest as much as possible, I just went with what seemed the most fun and scenic. Fortunately, never hit a dead end and had to backtrack, although I did have to adjust my strategy a couple times. I generally stayed right of crest, because I knew I'd be descending on the other side of the crest. That was a little risky, because it deprived me of the opportunity to scout my planned descent route as I climbed, but I didn't expect anything really difficult over there.

As I neared the top, I was briefly forced left, and at that elevation I could see over to climbers on what I surmised was the Wormflow route. Lots of 'em. I started to consider swinging around that way on the rim and descending that route. I knew my planned route would take me through a long stretch of lavaflow with little snow, so I was worried about how hard it might be to get to the trail.

I continued up to what I'd been dreading: an unusually steep stretch of snow that looked like it would be exhausting. Bad snow conditions here, and the wind that had been howling all day was about at its worst here. When I kicked steps, the snow spray didn't even go forward, it went sideways. Avery time I extracted my axe, I had to fight the wind, which wanted to blow it sideways. There were times when it got gusty enough that I didn't want to take a step, for fear of sacrificing my four points of contact.

After that steep stretch, I took the opportunity to get on the rocky ridgecrest, but that didn't last long; too much blowing grit. So back to the snow, until I reached a long straight smooth ridgecrest to the rim. I wanted to follow the crest for maximum views, but again, blowing grit drove me back to the snow.

At the rim (8200' at this peak), I was relieved to find that following it clockwise would be pretty easy. When it got a little tricky I was able to safely plunge down sandy slopes to the snow, and then glissade to join the Wormflow conga line. I saw lots of unnecessary ice axes and crampons. This is a treking-poke-and-hiking-boots route. But of course, better safe than sorry. The first (only?) time I did Monitor Ridge, I took axe but no crampons, reasoning that November snow is usually soft enough that crampons aren't needed. I pulled it off, but it sure wasn't worth saving a pound.

I asked a few people for route advice, never having been here before. Some were deemed unreliable. One guy didn't even know where he was or where he was going, just following the crowd. One person seemed confident, but not cocky, so I took her advice, and it worked out great. Eventually I could see a trail far below, parallel to a creek, and knew that had to be where I was headed. Glissading was a blast, almost perfect conditions.

When the snow started getting spotty, I figured I'd better get on the standard route, which is a PITA steep rocky "trail". I kept looking at the soothing dirt trail below, next to the creek, saying to myself "looks like maybe ten more minutes". When I finally reached the beautiful creek that cuts through a twisty rocky canyon, I was upset to realize there's an alternate route creekside, certainly much more scenic than the route I took. It was hot, and I was tired, and I had to be home by dark so I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel, so I couldn't go up that trail, as badly as I wanted to. I finished up my beer, so as to solidify in my mind that I couldn't go up. (I do that sometimes, drink as a way of stopping me from doing something I know I shouldn't do...which is funny, alcohol usually doesn't make people behave responsibly.) Enjoyed a nice long break, let my feet breathe, put my gaiters away, snacked.

When I got up to leave, there was a large party just uphill from me, so I hustled to get back to the trail so I wouldn't end up stuck behind them. In my exhausted sleep-deprived intoxicated state, I stumbled when I hit the trail, and went down. I scrambled to my feet and took off down the trail, feeling a dozen eyes on me, imagining their giggles and exasperated sighs.

When I reached Loowit Trail (yay!) it went right only, towards Monitor Ridge. I surmised the Loowit Trail towards June Lake must be a little lower, and sure enough, found it at the top of a cool waterfall that I came to realize must be Chocolate Falls. Crossed the creek and followed the trail into cool shady forest.

That didn't last long though. I hit a lavaflow, big, no trail. Just follow post-to-post. It was no longer windy (of course, now that I want it to be windy). It was hot out there, and hopping through the lavaflow was a tedious business. I could see down to the Wormflow trail that continued down creekside, now a little more verdant and shady. Tempting. But I continued on Loowit "trail". It actually was charming in spots, and a trail of sorts could be followed intermittently, so it wasn't the lavaflow hell I imagined. It started raining, first a mist so light I wondered if I imagined it, then big drops splattering on me. It was blue sky and cotton balls, so I was puzzled. I could see rainclouds, but far off. Weird. Maybe the fierce wind up high was carrying the drops my way. Eventually, inevitably, I reached the June Lake junction and headed down. It was fun to see it in the light, having hiked through here several times in the dark.

This is, what, I guess the third time I've done a non-standard route on MSH, and it just confirmed what I already knew: When you start from a low trailhead and find your own way, with no route beta or guidebooks or posts to follow, even wimpy little St Helens can kick your butt. It took 8 hrs from car to top! I thought I was making great time, really pleased with my progress, untill I stopped to calculate my time and elevation at about 5800', and realized I was only averaging about 500'/hr! My (arbitrary) goal was rim by noon, and I started wondering if I'd make it (did, it was 11:20ish).

I keep telling myself I should write shorter TRs. Yeah, right, like that's gonna happen. :D
Attachments
1.jpg
This is where my confidence soared. It didn't look like much could go wrong. Funny though, it doesn't even look like the crater rim, once you get this close.
2.jpg
The easy broad final stretch of my ridge.
3.jpg
Looking CCW from my high point. Spirit Lake peeking out at the left.
4.jpg
Went clockwise from here, until I dropped to meet Wormflows route.
5.jpg
from Ape Canyon.jpg

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Bosterson
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Bosterson » June 19th, 2018, 3:07 pm

Chip Down wrote:
June 18th, 2018, 6:42 pm
It started raining, first a mist so light I wondered if I imagined it, then big drops splattering on me. It was blue sky and cotton balls, so I was puzzled. I could see rainclouds, but far off. Weird. Maybe the fierce wind up high was carrying the drops my way.
Was that around 3:30pm? We were over in the Large Marge backcountry and got hit by a cloudburst for about 5 min.

Ordnance Quad review? Mine is cellared. I suppose my interest in your answer depends on whether you are actually a connoisseur of Chimay Blue or St Bernardus Abt 12 or the like to begin with. Barrel aging quads in something other than oak is kind of a silly American affectation...
#pnw #bestlife #bitingflies #favoriteyellowcap #neverdispleased

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Don Nelsen
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Don Nelsen » June 19th, 2018, 3:38 pm

Nice! - And I like your longish TRs.

You are so right about St. Helens surprising you and kicking your ass, but we do these things to stay in shape and for our health, right? Yeah, right!

dn
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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Chip Down » June 19th, 2018, 5:32 pm

Bosterson,

Not quite, it was just barely after 4 when the first sprinkles started. Heaviest precip was around 5ish, but even that wasn't enough to get me wet (not that I cared at that point).

I think Bernardus 6 & 8 are outstanding dubbels, but I'm not crazy about 12, nor do I love Chimay. My favorite quad by far is Pannepot, which sadly I haven't seen in a couple years. And I actually think Montavilla makes a good BSDA/BDSA, and I seem to recall I liked Straffe Hendrik. So yeah, I am familiar with the style, even though I'm not a big fan of the standard bearers. Anyway, I've had good luck with Ordnance BBA products, and this was no exception. Considering the difficulty of making a 15% ale, they deftly dodged some of the offputting characteristics that might make one leery. I wonder if hiking discussions break out on the beer boards. Like if a guy reviews a beer and says he took it on a hike, do people ask abut snow conditions or route tips? :D

Don,

Yeah, I always tell myself that my suffering will make the next hike easier. Actually this one wasn't that bad. It was just the time pressure that got to me, kept me from dawdling as much as I wanted.

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kepPNW
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by kepPNW » June 19th, 2018, 7:20 pm

Came down the Worm Flows route? Huh! Was the ridge you went up, pictured here, the second one from far right? That final approach appears similar. I damn near peeled off on a trail heading in that general direction yesterday, myself.

Image
Taken just above Chocolate Falls, 6/18
Karl
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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Chip Down » June 19th, 2018, 8:40 pm

Karl,

Although you're right that the end of that route looks similar to mine, I was farther east/ccw. See pic below, taken from Loowit Trail. The ridge you were looking at did have a little traffic on it, just a few people, maybe less than 10% of the hikers I saw (about the same as Monitor Ridge).
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K.Wagner
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by K.Wagner » June 20th, 2018, 7:59 am

Just a side note.... thought you might be interested to know that you didn't quite match the speed record for the Worm Flow Route.
Back in 2015, 2 young bucks that had to have been a pair of lungs with legs attached, did the 5600 feet, car to summit in 1:36, car to car in 2:50. Speed Record
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kepPNW
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by kepPNW » June 20th, 2018, 4:10 pm

Chip Down wrote:
June 19th, 2018, 8:40 pm
Although you're right that the end of that route looks similar to mine, I was farther east/ccw. See pic below, taken from Loowit Trail. The ridge you were looking at did have a little traffic on it, just a few people, maybe less than 10% of the hikers I saw (about the same as Monitor Ridge).
Okay, cool, looks like it's the next ridge over. I think I'll tag that first one, first, then maybe check that out. :) Surprised you saw anyone on Monitor Ridge! I came down that way on Monday, and felt like I was only the second person to do so, recently, from the (extremely few) footprints I found.
Karl
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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by Chip Down » June 20th, 2018, 4:31 pm

KW: Never having been up WF, I can remain secure in my delusions that I could do that. :D I was once the first to arrive at the top of monitor though. I think I counted something like 80 as I descended.

Kep: Looks like fun. I'm not sure what the normal access is, but it sounds like you spotted something. I'm half tempted to get back there myself, but I hate crowds, so it might go low on my list.

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Re: St Helens: crater rim via un-named (?) ridge from June Lake

Post by kepPNW » June 20th, 2018, 6:30 pm

Chip Down wrote:
June 20th, 2018, 4:31 pm
I was once the first to arrive at the top of monitor though. I think I counted something like 80 as I descended.
Kinda fun getting up there for sunrise, then seeing the look of surprise on the other "early birds" as you come down. (Once, jessbee and I counted something like 435 people coming up South Sister as we came down! :lol: )

Chip Down wrote:
June 20th, 2018, 4:31 pm
Kep: Looks like fun. I'm not sure what the normal access is, but it sounds like you spotted something. I'm half tempted to get back there myself, but I hate crowds, so it might go low on my list.
Going up the Worm Flows route, there's a trail that breaks off right as you're about to cross over Chocolate Falls. Pretty sure you'd be unlikely to see anyone, once past that junction, but between the parking lot and there it can be a bit of a highway. I think I'm likely to go exploring up that way "one of these days!", myself

Image
Chocolate Falls off-frame on left. Turning uphill at this sign leads to interesting places...
Karl
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