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Mt St Helens To Open?


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I already missed my reservered date so I was going to jump on this 8/19 trip. Then my fiance reminded me that is the day of our wedding reception. :D I may just have to make a week day trip since my weekends seem to be full from now until forever.

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I mentioned to Mrs. Nolenator about the trip and she asked why I hadn't said yes yet. Whoo Hoo I'm in! Peace, Nolenator

 

Cool! I just ordered the 11 permits for the climb. I will be sending information to everyone shortly.

 

For anyone that missed this opportunity you can order permits starting tomorrow for any date that is not full. I'm not sure whether the advance purchase URL will still be valid so you may want to start here

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Well, crud. I went through the web site to get my permits and I got reemed pretty well.

 

The old scheme: you get an appointment on paper, go to Jack's early the day of the climb, pay $15/person to get your permit, and you're good.

 

The new scheme: you pay months in advance on the web site: $15/person plus $7/person to the robbers who run the site, non-refundable even if USFS closes the mountain. And then, only after you've committed to the credit card charge, they tell you that you have to go to Jack's the day before the climb to pick up the permits that you just paid for. That $7/person doesn't even cover the cost of mailing the paperwork to you!

 

Grumble gripe government Spew PMW monopoly ...

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Heck yes! I already have shorter lines already to go. Hopefully the winds are going to the southwest and we can give the folks coming up a beacon. Peace, Nolenator

 

I mentioned to Mrs. Nolenator about the trip and she asked why I hadn't said yes yet. Whoo Hoo I'm in! Peace, Nolenator

 

Bringing your kite again? I wish I was going back up there with... I mean behind you again.

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The kind lady at Jack's confirmed that the USFS is mandating that permits get picked up the day before.

 

Hopefully a few phone calls from disgruntled climbers (nudge, nudge) will encourage them to make the system a little more user friendly.

 

From waaay back...the system is user friendly for those not having a permit in advance. The permits not picked up by the set time were then given out to those that showed up the day before wanting to climb.

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The kind lady at Jack's confirmed that the USFS is mandating that permits get picked up the day before.

 

Hopefully a few phone calls from disgruntled climbers (nudge, nudge) will encourage them to make the system a little more user friendly.

 

From waaay back...the system is user friendly for those not having a permit in advance. The permits not picked up by the set time were then given out to those that showed up the day before wanting to climb.

The system is totally different now. And yes that is true about releasing the permits - but you hadn't actually paid for those permits when they gave them away to someone else. I don't know what the plan for them is now .

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July 21 by EraSeek (1445 found)

The Mountain is open. I understand we have a first person up already!

Any idea what the conditions are? From the airplane today, it looked rather devoid of snow.

 

BTW: It isn't required to pick up the permits the night before any longer. They can be picked up at Jack's on the morning of the climb.

Permits will be available for pickup beginning at 9:00 am for climbs beginning the next day. For example, if you plan to climb on a Saturday, your permit will be available for pickup at Jack's anytime after 9:00 am on the Friday before.

 

-- or --

 

You may also pickup your permit the day of the climb when the store opens at 6:00 am. For example, if you plan to climb on a Saturday, your permit will be available for pickup at Jack's when the store opens at 6:00 am that Saturday morning for your Saturday climb.

 

Please make sure you have your email confirmation with you to present to Jack's to obtain your permit(s).

Edited by pdxmarathonman
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Well this is kinda awkward...

 

My group of six climbed the mountain today.

We found the following:

 

Belleterre's new cache

The previously placed cache

The Yellow Jeep TB

 

We signed the older cache log and took the YJTB.

 

I left a Green Jeep TB and a pdxmarathonman coin.

 

The two caches were less than 12 inches from each other!

The GJTB is next to the cache, but the pdxmarathonman coin is nearby.

If you have a KNAACK for finding caches you should be able to find the coin. It is directly below the CHEST. It should make perfect sense when you get there.

 

More info on the climb to follow in the cache logs.

Edited by pdxmarathonman
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So I guess we got a cache, a backup cache, maybe another backup cache, and a coin. [<_<] Guess people got a good chance of finding "the" cache.

 

I was thinking when we go up I may revise things a bit and see if I can't hide something a bit larger. I originally had a cache the size of a small lock-n-lock but it kept disappearing. Hmm. Maybe a really good camo job would work.

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Well this is kinda awkward...

 

My group of six climbed the mountain today.

We found the following:

 

Belleterre's new cache

The previously placed cache

The Yellow Jeep TB

 

 

Blinded by the sun? Heat stroke? Exhaustion? Uh - can I blame it on my brother?

I understand. The cache was found AFTER I had looked <_<:blink:

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So I guess we got a cache, a backup cache, maybe another backup cache, and a coin. [<_<] Guess people got a good chance of finding "the" cache.

 

I was thinking when we go up I may revise things a bit and see if I can't hide something a bit larger. I originally had a cache the size of a small lock-n-lock but it kept disappearing. Hmm. Maybe a really good camo job would work.

There are just the two caches. The jeep is next to one cache. The coin is stand-alone, not actually on the structure (and not at risk of being rained on <-- hint)

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I thought I had read somewhere in the forums that somebody's cousin's next door neighbor had suggested that the Forest Service didn't have the funds or plans to actually patrol the mountain. I just wanted to dispell that notion. We met the nice ranger-lady on our way down when she was heading up the mountain. She says she personally climbs about twice per week!

 

In re-reading this forum I noticed the post about the earlier back-up cache. So there might actually be three caches there :rolleyes:

 

It seems like the Forest Service has a little trouble counting to 100 (or active.com can't resist a few extra $7 fees). In seeing yesterday's registry of 121 people I asked the Jack's employee what the lowest climber count was so far. He said it was 110. He seemed a bit annoyed with the Forest Service's inability to count!

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Another 3.5 and a 3.6 quake on the dome today.

 

http://www.pnsn.org/recenteqs/Maps/Mount_St._Helens_eqs.htm

There was some equipment near the cache site that wasn't there in September '03. We assumed this was for monitoring quakes. Does someone know if this is the use? I am glad to see there were no readings reported for the time we were searching for the cache :(

 

I'd love to hear a report from the climbers that were on the mountain today. I sure hope the weather was better than what Super88 experienced yesterday. That is really a bummer.

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Super88's log sound a lot like the last time I went up to Camp Muir. 60mph winds and ice particles like sandpaper.

 

I looked at the webcam today. The top half of St Helens was clouded in. I was up there once when you couldn't see the rim till up were within 15' of it.

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Super88's log sound a lot like the last time I went up to Camp Muir. 60mph winds and ice particles like sandpaper.

 

I looked at the webcam today. The top half of St Helens was clouded in. I was up there once when you couldn't see the rim till up were within 15' of it.

 

Geez I hope I'm not staring at the GPSr at that moment. <_<

 

There was some equipment near the cache site that wasn't there in September '03. We assumed this was for monitoring quakes. Does someone know if this is the use? I am glad to see there were no readings reported for the time we were searching for the cache :ph34r:

 

Huh - according to that link - there were 4 quakes when I was on the mountain. And I thought it was just my legs quaking.

 

I can see the headlines now "Recent false quake activity at St Helens caused by geocahers digging for a cache".

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