Rare Earth Adventures

Mount St. Helens

Over 40,000 years in the making, Mount St Helens is the youngest volcano in the Cascade Range. Identified as a composite volcano, Mount St Helens was created by years of eruptions that spewed ash, lava, and debris onto its cone shaped slopes. The pre-1980 summit cone rose 5,000’ above the mountain’s base to its former height of 9,677’. Formerly referred to as the Mount Fuji of America, the dramatic conical feature of the mountain did not possess the highly eroded features of other mountains in the range because it was largely formed over a 2,000 year period after the last major glacial period.

The valleys around the mountain were heavily inhabited by Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers. A Klickitat Indian legend relates that the mountain was initially an ancient woman whom the Great Spirit turned into a beautiful maiden called Loo-wit-lat-kla, “Keeper of Fire”.  Loowit lived on the Bridge of the Gods and tended a fire source for the Indian tribes on both sides of the Columbia River. Two brothers, chiefs of their respective tribes, became enamored of Loowit and led their tribes into war over her.  The angered Great Spirit destroyed the Bridge of the Gods and it crumbled into the River.  The two Chiefs, Wy’east (Mt. Hood) and Klickitat or Pah-to (Mt Adams), were turned into mountains, as was Loowit (St Helens).

The mountain was spotted and named by the British Royal Captain Captain George Vancouver from his ship in 1792 during his survey of the northern Pacific Ocean. With ample water and fertile soils, the regions around Mount St. Helens were settled by Europeans in the 1800s. Periodic eruptions were witnessed during the 200 year period building up to the May 18, 1980 catastrophic eruption. The eruptive blast of lava, mud, ash forever changed the landscape around the mountain by melting the mountains glaciers and destroying 230 square miles of forest. The powerful eruption killed 57 people, caused 1.5 billion in property damages, and reduced the mountains height by 1,300’. Since 1980, the mountain has gone through periods of activity with periodic dome building within the crater, minor earthquakes and releases of steam and ash. Presently, the mountain is considered active and is regularly monitored by scientists from the United States Geologic Survey (USGS).

Mount St. Helens offers hikers a rare chance to witness the power of nature.

Rare Earth Adventures offers the following backpacking trips on Mount St. Helens:

Loowit Round-the-Mountain – Easy to Moderate
Mount Margaret Back Country (3 Days) – Easy to Moderate
Mount Margaret Back Country (4 Days) – Easy to Moderate