Classes take visitors in and around Mount St. Helens

The Mount St. Helens Institute will again offers a wide range of outdoor classes for the summer.

CRAIG HILL/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER FILE

A climber takes a photo of the crater from the rim of the 8,365-foot summit of Mount St. Helens in 2007. Some of the summer classes offered by the Mount St. Helens Institute will take participants into the volcano's crater.

Staff report

06/05/11

The Mount St. Helens Institute will again offers a wide range of outdoor classes for the summer.

The field classes offer participants a chance to learn from expert instructors. Offerings include a climb of the volcano with a geologist and a botany-backpacking excursion.

This year's field seminars will begin June 25 and run through mid-October.

Institute staff recommend people register early because some sessions have a limit on the number of participants.

There is a registration fee, usually around $50 per person. Sessions such as climbs up the volcano are $500 per person.

Here are some of the offerings:

June 25: "Plants of the Blast Zone" with Ray Yurkewycz; an easy-to-moderate walk through the blast zone to see how plants have recovered; $50.

June 24-25: "The First People of Mount St. Helens: From Chalacha to Metuliash;" provides an introduction to the history of the first people by archaeologists and tribal members; includes an evening campout and a day of hiking, $75.

July 1-2: "Into the Crater: A Guided Science Hike to Crater Glacier" with Dave Sherrod; this is a rare opportunity to explore an area that is not open to the public that includes a campout and a 13-mile round-trip hike; similar trips will be held July 22-23 and Sept. 16-17; $500.

July 9: "Photography in the Blast Zone" with Alan Bauer; bring your camera for a session that will help improve your outdoor photography skills using the monument as the subject; $50.

July 23: "Lava Tubes Below: The Geology of Ape Cave" with Charlene Montierth; this is a chance to explore one of the longest lava tubes in the United States: $50.

Visit the institute's website at www.mshinstitute.org for the full listing of 2011 classes and to register.

Source

--
Got Penguins?

Penguin News Today
The Science of Penguins
Gentoo Penguins of Gars O'Higgins Station, Antarctica