2024 saw 32 Vanier students come along for the 16th edition of our Mount Saint Helens trip. This year we, once again, went to both Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens as the road to the JRO is still out of commission. Also this year we were joined by Mr.A's wife...Ms. A and that makes it two family sweeps (Mr. & Ms. A along with both kids and Mr. Young & Ms. Petrie along with both Mr. Young's kids...twice!) So, along with the Arsenault's and Young we also had Mr. James Tancon join us as a fourth chaperon. We took the Black Ball ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles and it was pretty windy with pretty decent swells and rollers that made some have a good time, while others just had to look at the horizon and hope 😉 Now, I don't know about you, but I did not have an RV fire on the deck of the M.V. Coho while crossing the Strait of Juan de Fuca on my Mount Saint Helens Travel Bingo Card for 2024. This was the start we had 😧. Although we were delayed for a few hours in Port Angeles, and one of the busses smelled like burnt plastic, aside from some water and soot neither bus faced any harm or damage. Our thanks go out to the crew of the M.V. Coho and to the Port Angeles fire department for their fast actions and outstanding professional work. After our delay we made our way down the 101 past Hamma Hamma, Skykomish, and Shelton to our regular stop in Tumwater for the night. Ms. A and Mr. Young did a pretty thorough cleaning of the busses and the next morning there were some Little Trees Air Fresheners for each bus...now christened "Black Ice" and "Supernova". Day two saw us take the Mountain Highway East (#7) and then the 706 to Paradise Road up Rainier to Paradise. There were a few views of Mount Rainier from Longmire and the Christine Falls Bridge but as we progressed to the Henry M. Jackson visitor center at Paradise the mountain weather gods brought a cloud deck that wouldn't budge. We could see Pinnacle Peak, Unicorn Peak, Plummer Peak, and Stevens Peak to the southeast but Rainier hid behind a grey deck of clouds. Nonetheless the students had fun hiking and sliding in the snow. After a quick trip to the gift shop and a lunch the students had a nice nap on the bus through Morton and Mossy Rock on the way to night two in Kelso. Side note..."Supernova" got stuck in Elbe when as bathroom break went very sideways but "Black Ice|" waited for them to catch up. Needless to say the story involves small rail cars and what can only be described as a "Roadhouse" movie bathroom location. Kelso saw us update or hotel choice, moving from the Red Lion to the Sleep in but of course the food didn't change. Yes, the chaperons went to Fiesta Bonita again 😋 Day three took us to the Ape Caves. As always, this is a highlight of the trip for us. We spent a lot of time in the caves...and I mean a lot of time. This year we took almost all the students all the way through the upper caves as they were keen to do so. First, almost everyone made their way into the small cavern at the end of the lower caves and then we all scrambled our way up and through the upper caves. Alas because we spent a great deal of time in the caves we lost our view of Mount Saint Helens from the south, as much like the previous day the mountain weather gods brought a cloud deck that wouldn't budge... Still, all told, year 16 was pretty fantastic! Year 17 will see the last journey for Mr. Young as Mr. A. forges a new path forward for the Vanier Mount Saint Helens adventure. Hard to believe that this grand adventure has made its way to here from 2006 😯 I think there just may be a return to the north side in store for next year. Coldwater Ridge here we come!

If you'd like to add a photo or to tell a story use this space to comment or contact me and I'll add what I can for you here...Arsenault and I would love to hear from you

After losing three years to travel restrictions connected to the pandemic, Mr. Young and Mr. Arsenault successfully brought back the Mount Saint Helens trip to G.P. Vanier, our Fifteenth year! Losing three years really meant re-starting this adventure all over again, as the momentum we had been building vanished pretty quickly. We knew it would be a challenge to build back the numbers of students, but really this was our second reboot after Mr. Bourget retired, so it became version 3.0 if you will. This year we chose to be nimble and light and took our own school district busses as opposed to a coach bus. This allowed us the opportunity to make quick decisions, but it did mean that the chaperons had to drive...the first time we'd ever done that. To help, our VP, Mr. McKillican drove one bus, while Young drove the other. We also had the Marvellous Ms. Mazey join us as well. We chose to go back to the Black Ball ferry (Victoria to Port Angeles, Wa) and take the 101 down to Olympia, thus avoiding the snarl of I-5/I-405 traffic through the greater Seattle region. It really is a much more leisurely and picturesque drive as well. Twenty-four students made the journey this year There were a few logistical issues to overcome, including the ESTA and Visa Waiver Program for our International students (no fruit issues this year 😏), however those paled in comparison to a curveball thrown at us in the last minute. Normally we head down to Olympia on the first day and then days two and three are split between the north and the south side of Mount Saint Helens, coming home on day four. On the weekend before we made our way down to the United States (specifically Sunday, May 14th, 2023) a landslide hit State Route 504 (Spirit Lake Memorial Highway) and washed out a 200 foot section of road at milepost 49, cutting off access to the Johnston Ridge Observatory. This meant that we could no longer take the students to the north side of the volcano...you know the place with speactacular views of the pumice plain and the blast zone. So when Mr. A. and Young found out about this, the road closure information came out on Tuesday the 16th (we were leaving on Thursday the 18th) a few "choice words" were shared. We had to contemplete cancelling the trip; however this realy wasn't an option for us, if we wanted a fresh start to reboot the expedition/field study. After a frantic brainstorming session, we made a proposal to Mr. McKillican that he thought was a fantastic idea. We'd keep the south side of Mount Saint Helens, with the Ape Caves, but we'd add a visit to Mount Rainier for our other day. This time, the students got a 2 for 1 deal...visiting BOTH Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens...Sweet! As you will find below, this was an absolutely fantastic idea. Needless to say a fast and furious pivot was necessary when we found out the Spirit Lake Memorial Highway was shut down. This is what a rapid recrafting of an itinerary looks like After making our way to Olympia, for night one, we made our way to Mount Rainier through Yelm, Eatonville, Ashford and Longmire (Highways 510/702/7/706). We needed a bathroom and stretch break in Yelm, which turned out to be a lot of fun. Always athletic, Mr. McKillican inspired us to move Actually a stretch is a good thing after being on the bus for a while There was actually quite a bit of traffic into Mount Rainier. Side note...we didn't actually have a reservation, but the US NPS were fantastic and accommodated us, knowing that we were supposed to go to Johnston Ridge but couldn't. Thank you so much! Mount Saint Helens is fantastic, but so is Mount Rainier. We do a Problem Based Learning / practical study of the town of Orting in my Physical Geography class. Orting sits in the shadow of Mount Rainier, so for the students to actually see the volcano they write a report on is a pretty fantastic opportunity for them. We made our way to the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center in Paradise and had the students hike through the snow. We went up the Skyline Trail to Panorama Point (6800') in full on snow. It was spectacular. Bursts of energy due to excitement slowly turned into trudging upwards Because sneakers are a good choice of footwear for the snow...we did say use hiking boots BTW Although it was a short hike up, the sun was pretty punishing for us That view, though :) Alto Lenticular clouds shrouded the top of Rainier, but no one complained because it was freaking beautiful Styling selfie time Our official 2023 Crew photo - this time on Mount Rainier Mr. A. Best Dad Ever shirt - I wonder who was on the trip with him ;) Peek-a-Boo...kinda hard to miss If you turn around this is the look southward Sneaker snow climbs are the best ;) Mr. McKillican and Mr. Young on Rainier Again...WOW! What a view After our time on Mount Rainier we had a tired and hungry group. After stopping for lunch (and Twinkies) along the Nisqually River, we made our way back to Elbe and then headed south along Highway 7 to Morton and on Highway 12, through Mossyrock to Interstate 5 and down to Kelso for the night. Our pilgrimage to Fiesta Bonita made the chaperons happy and of course Target was a target for the students. As you'll see below, there were many Hawaiian short sleeved shirts that made their way back across the border. Saturday, however, saw us make our way south to State Route 503 and up to Cougar, Washington, so that we could go to the Ape Caves. It was SUPER SLAMMING busy at the Ape Caves, most likely because the north side (Johnston Ridge) was inaccessible and it was the opening Spring weekend for the caves. Almost everyone wanted to do the upper caves and Ms. Mazey rocked it out with Mr. McKillican and Mr. Young It's always exciting to see, hear, and feel the changes physically and emotionally when heading down into the caves The students are always surprised at the size of the lower caves Our group at the bottom of the lower caves At the very bottom of the Ape Caves there's a squeezy little path. You need to crawl on your belly which leads to a small cavern that you can stand up in. This is a very popular adventure for some who can handle the narrow space There's also a little bench that you can climb on top of. Mr. A. always becomes the ladder to climb up on to this feature Upper Cave madness After the Upper Caves, we take the group to the Trail of Two Forests with lava casts of trees and nightmares of Riley Mr. Young trying not to remember Riley taking a wrong turn in the tree cast tubes and getting stuck Success! Success! Success! Mr. A. and Mr. Young....happy Mount Saint Helens (and Rainier) trekkers We were able to get a pretty fantastic view of Mount Saint Helen's south face before heading back north for the night And both Mr. A and Mr. Young were happy to join the "Happy Shirt Gang" And finally, coming back through Tsawwassen there were further adventures with Playmobile and henna The tattoo is of Mr. A...and I'm going to say it stands for Boss Science Guy!