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Mount Saint Helens - 21 March 2020

Perfect conditions for a spring ascent of Mount Saint Helens.

I took a panorama at the top, and I think you can see eight volcanoes in it (from left to right: Rainier, Adams, Hood, Jefferson, possibly the three sisters, and of course, Saint Helens): https://jsaxton.com/static_images/EightVolcanoDay.jpg (38MB warning)

I also took a panorama of the crater: https://jsaxton.com/static_images/MSH_crater.jpg (3MB)

Not sure if these were deer or elk Driving to the trailhead The trail starts out on a ski trail. The snow was pretty firm, so I didn't need to use my snowshoes, even in the afternoon. Once you get above the treeline, you still have over 4000' of vertical elevation to go First time I have ever seen someone parachute down a mountain! Most people skied down the mountain. Made it to the crater rim! Once you get to the crater rim, you can climb up a hill to the left. Once you get to the top of that hill, you can see the true summit. If you look closely, you can see the heads of two climbers on the top. I took a selfie on the top -- seemed like asking someone to take a picture would violate social distancing recommendations. From the top, you can see the masses hanging out at the crater rim. The view of the crater from the summit. Heading back I assumed that hiking would be a good way to avoid crowds and maintain social distancing. I assumed wrong. The view down Since Mount Saint Helens doesn't really have crevasses, you can just slide down the mountain (glissade) in many parts I suspect that I glissaded down more than half the mountain You can't glissade down the ski trails, although it was a nice downhill walk. 6400' of elevation gain! I think it is the second most I have ever done in a single day (Mount Whitney was more, and significantly harder, since you couldn't glissade and the terrain was much more uneven).
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