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!