My friend Steve from my work and myself purchased permits to climb Saint Helens earlier in the year. Steve has climbed Saint Helens already a couple of times from Climbers Bivouac. The road to Climbers Bivouac when we were there had not opened yet (but it opened a couple of days after our attempt) so we had to start our climb from the sno-park. Starting from the sno-park adds 4 or 5 miles and about a thousand feet of elevation gain and most people do that route as an overnight. The morning of our climb it started pouring down rain at our campground in Cougar and visibility was very low. Still, we set our sites for the mountain and headed out about 7:30. We hiked about 4 miles in and about 2500' feet up the mountain when with the low visibility we both decided to call it a day. I admit I wasn't feeling 100 percent either after having just gone through 10 days worth of antibiotics for a sinus infection. When we got back to the car we had a quick bite to eat and headed over to Lava Canyon since we were so close. The trail has been partially closed since a bunch of people have died there the last few years being swept over the falls. All and all not a horrible weekend but sure wanted to climb that mountain. We both agreed to try it again another time, maybe this year, who knows?
