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St Helens: Rim via Butte Camp route (contemporary)

Posted: August 29th, 2018, 8:09 pm
by Chip Down
Finally got around to the Butte Camp route up to the rim. Been kinda avoiding it. Doesn't look fun. It wasn't. Maybe would be a good June/July route. Then looped down considerably west/CW, finishing up a route from a day when clouds sneaked in and forced me to make other plans.

At the tail end of a cold, so slept in, set the alarm for 1:30. Started up the trail from Red Rock Pass at 4:20. Headlamps visible high on monitor ridge. Surprised to find the Butte Camp watering hole dried up, but I could hear the falls up to my left, so I knew the creek had to be just a little off trail. Arrived at Loowit junction at dawn.

There's not a lot written about the BC route, but I gather the traditional route follows the lava flow just barely east of the BC/Loowit junction, whereas the contemporary route just goes straight up the mountain, basically an extension of the BC trail (just cross Loowit and keep going). There was a faint trail for a while, but it quickly faded. I saw signs of it above, but with all the goat activity, I wasn't always sure. Mostly I found my own way. It was a little daunting seeing the south side of the mountain 99% bare. No snowy landmarks, no easy travel.

Around 7000' I entered familiar territory. Also encountered snow, and clear running water, so it turned out I didn't need to fill up at Butte Camp. I intended to traverse CW as low as possible to hook up with my descent route, but rugged terrain kept forcing me higher. Finally saw a nice ridge that I could descend in my intended direction, but had to climb higher before I could traverse over and meet up with it. Came to realize that ridge was the crater rim. Well, okay then. I didn't want to go that high, but I was about 8000', so not much left. To the rim I went.

Drat, rim was extremely sharp and crumbly. No way to walk the crest, and traversing just below the crest was sketchy, so back down I went, then traversed CW. What a nightmare. Finally met up with my descent route, and from there it was a fairly easy drop, just a little routefinding trouble here and there, until I landed in the grassy rock garden I had set my sights on.

I'll probably get back to doing the Traditional BC route, but I think I'll wait until next year, when there's snow.