The main objective this year was to hike the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island off British Columbia. Unfortunately, shuttle and ferry services to the trail head were not functioning yet for the season and they were unwilling to commit to anything more definite than "maybe in a week or two." After inquiring in as many places and methods as I could think of, and being unwilling to take the rental car on active logging roads, I became convinced that a change in plans was in order. All was not lost, however, as I had a wonderful time with my daughter who lives in Vancouver (the city). She bought me a fantastic Father's Day dinner at a picturesque seaside restaurant and we had a nice time together.
Although Mt. Hood was a goal at the end of the trip, my son, Chris (who lives in the Seattle area), stole a couple of days from work and we immediately headed to down to Mt. Hood. Oh yes, I should mention that rain was persistently following my every move so it was no surprise when we arrived at Timberline Lodge on the south side of the mountain. The lodge was there, but not the mountain. That is, it was completely shrouded clouds, rain and mist. Chris and I stuck it out waiting around for two days until it finally cleared and allowed us to go ahead with the climb. We'd heard that a warm May left the bergschrund open with very little in the way of snow bridges. My plan was a traverse across it's lower edge to gain passage at the east edge of the glacier.
When we arrived at the Hogsback just below the schrund the ice conditions above looked very rotten. The steep couloir to the west, known as "The Old Chute", however, looked solid. So we set aside my earlier plan in favor of this steeper face. It turned out to be a magnificant climb up the "the chute." That route put us on the western end of the summit ridge which we traversed to gain the true summit. That traverse offers spectacular views down the steep northeast face.
Hikes here and there in Washington brought me finally to Mt. St. Helens. I decided that I would enjoy climbing it to view the growing lava dome fully visible from the south summit rim. After driving an amazing number of miles just to register for the climb, I finally managed to do so. One must register online only -- not too convenient for me with only my pack and climbing gear, but no available computer. St. Helens is a walk-up with relatively little exposure to any steep snow fields, but fun nevertheless. When I reached the south rim via the Monitor Ridge route, I was treated to a wonderful rumble as the mountain's lava dome expanded a bit more. Unfortunately I was too slow to get the rumble recorded with my camera, but I did catch the helicopter that moments later shot over the west rim and zoomed down around the lava dome. I presume it took off from the observatory not far from the west rim as soon as the rumble sent the seismographs down there into a frenzy of line scribbling.
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