Ascent (Sunday Sept 5th 2004)
Map of route.
On Saturday I got to Jacks at 17:30 to get a climbing permit. They were expecting more than 50 people to turn up, so I got a lottery ticket and had to wait until 18:00. At 18:00 there were only 43 people waiting for permits, so no lottery was necessary and I paid my $15 and went home again. I talked to Rae for a long time while she was on I5 on her way to Seattle and went to sleep at around 22:00
Jacks store, Restaurant and Climber Registration centre.
Climbing Permit.
On Sunday I left the house at 05:00 and got to Jacks at 06:15. I filled in the climber's register and flicked back through to look at the previous entries. The day before someone had added a comment below their return signature - "I climbed your mountain. It was a bitch."
I arrived at the Climber's Bivouac at 6:50 and set off. The first 2 miles (1000ft of ascent) are along the Ptarmigan Trail - a very typical Pacific NW trail through woods with birds and, of course, ground squirrels to keep you company. The first 1.5 miles are very gentle. There is a false sense of reaching the timberline when the trail meets the base of the Swift Creek Flow and the last half mile up to the real timberline at 4800ft is steeper with a couple of switchbacks. The sun had just risen and the valleys below were full of cloud but above was bright blue sky.
Early morning clouds.
Swift Creek Flow.
At 07:50 I was at the top of the Ptarmigan trail, there were a group of tents there and the climbers were just making breakfast. They pointed me in the right direction, the Monitor Ridge trail slips off to the left by the sign just before the campsite.
Navigation on the first half of the trail is very easy - simply follow the wooden poles. A little way up was a band of cloud and at one point visibility was down to less than the distance between the poles, but the trail was clear here so there was no danger of getting lost.
Once above the clouds, Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams came into view and a little later Mt. Jefferson was visible on the horizon.
Start of the Monitor Ridge trail. The trail leads off to the left here then up and around and along the ridge in background of this picture.
Follow the poles.
Mt Hood.
Mt Adams.
The poles end at the 2nd monitor tripod which is at about 6800ft. I got to this point at 9:15 (about 2.5 hours to do 4.5 miles and 3000 ft of ascent). This first 2000ft of ascent on Monitor Ridge is mostly over rocks with some sections of trail over ash. Every step is either uphill or a scramble over rocks and you have to concentrate to avoid breaking an ankle or cutting a hand - the pumice rocks are very sharp.
After the 2nd monitor post the slope steepens and the rocks disappear to leave a very gruelling slog up through the ash. You slip backwards with every step. The last 2/3 of a mile (1500ft of ascent) took another 2 hours and I reached the crater rim at 11:10.
Last section of trail to the rim.
The view is fantastic, below you is the crater with its smoking lava dome, beyond that is Spirit Lake and further away still is Mt Rainier. It was so clear that the mountain looked close enough to touch although it is about 50miles away. To the left of Spirit Lake the windows of the Johnson Ridge Observatory can be seen. It is noisy at the top - every few minutes there was a loud cracking noise which I think came from the glaciers and there are rockfalls down the inside of crater almost continually.
The highest point on the summit is a little way around to the West. The trail there looked very dangerous, so I ate my sandwiches instead.
The view.
Lava Dome.
Spirit Lake and Mt.Rainier.
Highest point of the rim.
The eastern edge of the rim.
The walk down was much less strenous but more difficult in a way because it is impossible to pick a good route from above. And the knee I hurt in Canada was very upset the whole way down as well. I reached Camper's Bivouac at 16:00 - about 4 hours after leaving the rim.
Lava Canyon (Aug 2004)
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