Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mountaineering in Washington State

Does anyone know of an on-line resource for Mountains in Washington state, or have climbed there for that matter?

I want to find a mountain to climb in mid May around the Seattle area, and do not have the time to plan something like Rainer. Or perhaps does anyone have experience-doing non-summit climbing on Rainer? Most likely I will be alone and therefore do not want to cross dangerous glaciated areas.

Any suggestions would be appreciated - Thanks

Mount Saint Helens has a trail/scramble to the summit. Most summits in the Olympic Mountains sould be free of snow/ice.

Mid-May you will run into snow still on a lot of the Cascade mountains. Snow is melting a bit early up her this year but I would still expect to deal with snow.

You can climb to Camp Muir on Rainier. There will definitely be a lot of snow still even at the parking lot. The beginning is usually marked part of the way by orange wands and there is almost always a good boot path. You will be climbing on the Muir glacier but it is usually in good condition early in the year. It can be tricky if the clouds move in. You'll be trail routing in the fog. Weather will be is always tricky up here. But if it is a sunny or high overcast day, Muir is a good climb. Here's a recent post on Cascade climber board regarding climbing to Muir.
http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/s...5/o/all/fpart/1

Mt. St. Helens will require a permit. Starting May 15th they limit access just like Whitney to 100 per day. Here's a link to information from fs
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/mount-st-helens/index.shtml

I would recommend checking the following boards for current conditions and reports. The first two are mainly on hiking.
- www.wta.org - click on trip reports at the top to get to the freshest reports.
- www.nwhiker.net
- www.cascadeclimber.com

Thanks for the responses, I will check out those boards. I will be in Washington the 8th through the 15th, so it looks like I could easily get on Mt. St. Helens before the permit season begins.

Can you give me some more info on climbing St. Helens? Length, time, elevation, etc.?

Thanks

You want CLIMB or HIKE?

A 3,400 foot hike would be Mt Si, one of the most popular trails in the area. Located about 30 miles east of Seattle along I-90, outside of North Bend. No permit required.

A hike/climb at that time (most likely) would be Granite Mt. I did it two weeks ago and it was a steep snow climb after the first 1.5 miles of trail. It will be more trail in another month (as reported snow is melting faster than usual) but would still be a snow route to the lookout. About 47 miles east of Seattle along I-90 (Exit 47). You need a Trail Pass or risk a fine or park outside the parking lot on the access road.

There are others but as reported, generally, you will run into snow on many of them that early in the season.

Check out www.wta.org for current reports on hikes, ski trips and some climbs.

A climb up St Helens is about 5,000 feet to about 8,300 ft on a south slope.

Camp Muir on Rainier is also about 5,000 feet to 10,000 ft. Also a south aspect.

The freezing level this weekend is suppose to be down to 3,500 feet and can happen and it does until July in this climate. So you have to be prepared for very firm snow as well as slush.

I just got back from an attempt on Hood. There was a fair amount of new snow and it was snowing down to 3500 ft. Another recource for WA peaks is summitpost.com