MOUNT ST. HELENS o'll 



the writer's map shows the summit to be in the northeast corner 

 of township 8 north, range 5 east, of the Willamette meridian, 

 and its altitude taken on a clear, still day, with an excellL-nt 

 aneroid, is 8,608 feet. 



The approach to the mountain is by wa,<,fon road up the north 

 fork of Lewis river to the foot of the trail to Lake Merrill, around 

 the lake to and across the Kalama river, up the Kalama for a 

 short distance, then toward and by Goat mountain and in a 

 northeasterly direction to what is known as JUitte camp, at an 

 elevation of 3,700 feet. From this point horses can be taken to 

 the bench above, i)ut there is no water and but little wood, and 

 Butte camp is the pro[)er place from which to climb the mountain 

 unless you are thoroughly familiar with the very rough country 

 around the base. Formerly the approach was from Lewis river, 

 four miles above the trail to Lake Merrill, and up a continuous 

 run of lava, sloping gradually up from the river, to Butte camp, 

 a rough, hard trail, in many places over broken lava. Mt. St. 

 Helens is not difficult of ascent, and is probably the least dan- 

 gerous of an\^ of the snow-clad mountains of the Cascade range. 

 In going from Lewis river the trail leads up a steep hill, rising 

 900 feet in two miles,. and then drops down 100 feet, when you 

 most unexpectedly find yourself on the south edge of a small 

 lake about two miles from Lake IMerrill, without any ai)i»arent 

 reason for its existence. On going to the northern end of the 

 lake you find a mass of lava extending entirel}' across the axis 

 of what was originally a mild caiion. 



There are a few small streams flowing into Lake Merrill, but 

 thL're is no visible outlet. The ditference between high and low 

 water is more than thirty feet. The rainfall in autumn and 

 sj^ring and the snowfall in winter are very great, and the fall in 

 the level of the lake at the close of the spring rains is much too 

 great to be accounted for by evaporation. On a very still day 

 during Sei)tember, 1895, I searched carefully at the north end 

 of the lake and found in the sandy bottom, about Hfty yards 

 from the shore, a deep, funnel-shaped hole, evidently the begin- 

 ning of tlie outlet. Further to the north and toward the Kalama 

 river, where the lava flowed over the standing trees (the places 

 of the trunks now forming wells in the lava), running water can 

 be heard, and with a strong cord and bucket drawn up. Still 

 nearer the Kalama a l»old stream breaks out of the lava and 

 flows into the river just below a beautiful fall formed by the 

 Kalama flowing over the edge of the same run of I^'v > tl> >« 



