A Blast on Top of Old Smoky

Not so long ago it was a perfect cone, a long-dormant volcano. Pre-blast Mt. St. Helens was the jewel of the Cascades, an inviting destination for anglers, hikers and campers. The mountain, along with Spirit Lake and the surrounding back country of Gifford Pinchot National Forest was the pride of Washington.

Everything changed in May 1980, when this sleeping beauty awoke with a start. Apparently, the native Klickitat, who called the peak Tahonelatclah, which means “Fire Mountain,” had it right all along.

The top of the mountain was practically vaporized, replaced by a hole two miles long and one mile wide. Mt. St. Helens didn’t exactly blow its top, though; it was a lateral blast (more destructive than a vertical one because no energy is dissipated in overcoming gravity). Hot gases and debris were propelled outward at speeds exceeding 200 mph. Debris--pebbles, boulders, silt and truck-size hunks of glacial ice--raced down into Spirit Lake, raising the water level by 200 feet.

The eruption drastically altered the ecosystem to say the least, covering 24 square miles with mud, debris and pyroclastic material. Many more square miles became a desert of ash. Nearby forests were flattened. Ash darkened the skies and blanketed towns as far as Yakima, 80 miles distant.

Although it seemed like annihilation of the biosphere, it wasn’t. Much vegetation that fateful May day was under the cover of snow. And now, remarkably, the land is recovering from the big blow. What was black and gray is now green and light. New vegetation quite literally sprang from the ashes. Recolonization, biologists call it.

After the eruption, tourism exploded too. In 1982 about 110,000 acres were set aside by Congress as Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and placed under the stewardship of the U.S. Forest Service. A network of scenic highways and two major visitors centers, were built to serve more than 1 million visitors a year who are drawn to the scene of the natural disaster.

The two-mile round-trip hike to Spirit Lake is my favorite family jaunt. The old photos show the beauty of this place: calm, crystal-clear Spirit Lake, dramatic Harmony Falls tumbling from a nearby mountainside, a lodge and happy campers. The modern photographer has an altogether different view--an ash and rock-strewn lake shore and a scene of almost unbelievable devastation.

In a national monument full of novelty hikes Ape Cave is surely the most novel. Here’s your chance to step into the dark recesses of North America’s longest intact lava tube. Prowl the pitch black corridors of the 12,810-foot cave, picking your way over pyroclastic rubble and passing beneath that crowd pleaser--a huge hunk of lava known as the “meatball,” wedged into the cave’s ceiling.

If you’re looking for a middle-distance day hike, I suggest the 8.2-mile round-trip Plains of Abraham Trail. Even before the 1980 eruption, the Plains of Abraham were barren, forlorn and tree-free--the result of periodic avalanches sweeping down Mt. St. Helen’s slopes.

With the eruption, more earthly chaos befell the plains. Lahar (an Indonesian word that scientists use to describe a thick soup of sand, gravel, mud and water) engulfed the plain. And as if this massive mudflow weren’t sufficient destruction, airborne pumice shelled the Plains of Abraham, giving them their present moonscape appearance.

Experienced hikers in top form will no doubt want to ascend Mt. St. Helens. The mountain’s once-symmetrical cone is now a shattered crater surrounded by steep, barren ridges. A climb to the lip of the crater offers a firsthand look at the effects of the volcano’s 1980 eruption and of blasts from the distant past. From the crater rim, you can look out at the lava dome and try to imagine the cataclysmic events that took place here.

The most popular trail head, because it offers a fairly high elevation start (3,700 feet), is Climbers Bivouac. “Climbers” is the key word here; more than half the route of St. Helens is without a trail. The ascent begins with a two-mile hike through the forest on Ptarmigan Trail. From timberline, the way to the top is via Monitor Ridge, over steep pumice and lava slopes. The ridge route is marked with wood posts. Watch your step on the unstable, landslide-prone crater rim.

Mt. St. Helens is not a technically difficult climb, but it is one that requires doggedness and ample preparation. Such preparation should include wrap-around sunglasses or goggles, sunscreen and foul weather apparel. Gaiters are invaluable, both for sloshing through melting snow and piles of ash. Depending on the year’s snowfall, crampons and an ice ax are often necessary well into the summer.

The Forest Service limits the number of climbers on Mt. St. Helens to 100 per day. A climbing permit (free) is required from May 15 to Oct. 31. Reservations (highly encouraged during the summer to avoid disappointment) can be made by writing to the national monument or in person at national monument headquarters near Amboy. For those who arrive without a reservation, 40 permits per day are available on a first-come, first-served basis from Jack’s Restaurant and Store, located on Washington 503, about five miles west of Cougar.

Here’s the drill: Beginning each day at 11 a.m., climbers can sign up for a next-day permit. At 6 p.m., permits are issued at the store to the first 40 on the list. Permits are good for 24 hours. All climbers are required to sign in and out at the climbers’ register outside Jack’s before and after a climb. Allow a whole day (eight to 10 hours) for the climb to the crater and back.

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Ptarmigan Trail

WHERE: Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.

DISTANCE: 9 1/2 miles round trip with 4,600-foot elevation gain.

TERRAIN: Eruption-stunted 8,365-foot volcano.

HIGHLIGHTS: Climb to, view from, crater rim.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Strenous.

PRECAUTIONS: Unstable slopes, snow, ash storms.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, 42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Road, Amboy, WA 98601; tel. (360) 750-3900 (Info) or 750-3961 (Climbing Hotline).