The opening day of western Washington's rifle deer season began the same as the previous year. My 17 yr old son, Chris, and I were elk hunting! Chris had beat the odds (and me) and drawn a black powder Mt. Whittier any bull tag. This special permit allows only one hunter to harvest a bull. Unbelievably, Chris had drawn a cow tag for the same unit in 2010. A three square-mile unit located entirely within the Mt. St. Helens Monument, Mt. Whittier is mostly comprised of small alders, willows and noble firs, along with the occasional salmon berry. There is very little cover, except in the creek bottoms and on the steep slopes of Mt. Whittier, Mt. Margaret, and Coldwater Peak. This small canyon bore a large brunt of the eruption in May 1980. Thousands of decaying fir and cedar lay just as they did on May 19th. As this unit is within the Monument boundaries, there are very strict rules regarding its use. There are no horses or bicycles allowed, no fires can be built, camping is allowed only in designated spots, and the hunter can have only three support buddies.