It's almost a tradition, people here climb Mount St Helens (winter route) to celebrate Mother's day, dressed up! At least 500 people showed up today. I've never seen so many guys in skirts, some very shiny, some even wore tutus. It's a party!~11 miles RT, ~5700' gain. Not an easy goal, but what a view. You see Mt Adams on the right half of the way, Hood soon after, Rainier and Spirit Lake once you are on the rim. There's smoke coming out of the little bump in the middle of the crater. Most people stopped at the rim. The true summit is to the left, ~1/4 miles. Only ~50' higher, but you have to go down first, and then up.
On Saturday, we left around 2:30 pm, because B.G. wanted to hangout with Cindy's family who's said to arrive at the Marblemount parking lot at 5pm, and we found them having chili at the parking lot. Camping next to the parking lot isn't fun. The outhouse is super smelly, which I didn't dare to venture in. It always had a line though. Lots of trillium. On Sunday, 6 of us reconvened at 5am to start the walk together. But needless to say, we stretched far apart soon after the slope picks up. Our fastest had come back to the parking lot when I reached the summit! I took 6 hours to hike up to the rim, and another 40 minutes to the summit (half of the time was spent staring at and then slowly negotiating down a small icy slope, not advised for people like me not wearing traction devices.), 3 hours to head down (sliding). When I stood at the true summit, I was all by myself.
Direction: I-5 exit 21 to Lewis River Rd. Pass Cougar. Pick up permit at Lone Fir Resort (6am-9pm). Continue on (now called Hwy 90) to the junction with Forest Road 83. Turn left, follow the sign towards Ape Cave. Park at Marble Mountain Snow Park: two giant lots: the upper one is completely full this weekend. The trail is free of snow for over a mile, compared to snow in the parking lot 3 years ago at end of May.
