Trip Report

We all met at the Cold Springs Trailhead Friday night. The road up to the trailhead had just melted out a couple of days ago but the road was in fairly good shape with just a few snow banks and trees in the roadway. We got up at 4:45 a.m. and were on the trail by 5:30. The first two miles up to the base of the mountain went fast with firm snow banks occasionally covering the trail. By the time we got to 6500 feet in elevation the trail was covered completely with snow. We worked our way through the timberline up to the Lunch Counter. The Lunch Counter is a popular site to pack into and climb the mountain from. It is 9000 feet in elevation. From there we worked our way up to the false summit. It is 11,650 feet in elevation. That 2600-foot pitch took two hours. From there we walked up to the summit which is 12,276. The lookout on top was still covered by the winter's snows but the mound made a nice shelter from the wind. The temperature on top was about 32-33 degrees and the wind was blowing about 40-50 knots. It was slightly cool. On top we could look down on Goat Rock, site of the 1968 summer camp. Mt. St. Helens was covered with clouds but Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier were both above the clouds and looking very nice. No other mountains were visible. Looking to the east Yakima was visible in Eastern Washington. After a few minutes we headed down to the false summit. At the false summit we glissaded down to the Lunch Counter. The glissade took 10 minutes. That section of the climb took two hours to climb up. I feel that this glissade is the best in the northwest by far. From the Lunch Counter we walked on down to the trail and on to Cold Springs Trailhead. Time up seven hours, time down four hours. A very nice climb. Those on the climb were the multitalented Dallas Hemphill who served as assistant leader, rear guard and party member, and leader Kevin McManigal. P.S. More people should sign up next year. It's a very fun climb.