I climbed to the summit of Mount St Helens via the Monitor Ridge trail (summer route), from Climber's Bivouac and the Ptarmgian Trail. 

Camped at Climber's Bivouac the night before. By nightfall the campground seemed mostly full. 

The next morning I could hear more vehicles arriving and other hikers getting ready to head out from about 4:00 a.m.

I started at 5:00 a.m. and reached the summit ridge by about 10:00 a.m.

The trail was pretty busy. From the time I cleared the treeline, there were very few moments when I could not see and/or hear other people. 

The trail is pretty easy to discern, and having other hikers to follow (or see where not to go) was a benefit.

Some talk in here (WTA.org) and on the trail about "bearing left" at a couple of places on the way up. I traversed back and forth between the "left" and "right" routes a couple up times (mainly up that long, irritating gully) and could not really tell that one was better. Right = rocky up-and-down; Left = squishy sand and gravel. 

The "Hard" rating for this climb is rightly earned, and final push through all the scree and gravel toward the rim seemed absolutely grueling. I saw several hikers turn back at this stage. But views from Monitor Ridge were worth it.

The rim itself was entirely snow-free, hot and dusty.

Coming down took 2 hours and bit. Total climbing time (not including lunch at photography at the top) was about 7 hours.

Advice: Water, sunscreen, food. I met people all along the trail in both directions in need of one or all three of these. I carried 3 liters of water and drank it dry by 2/3 of the way down. Next time I will carry 4. 

It is dry and intensely sunny this time of year. You will want sunscreen.

This is a very taxing climb and despite being a busy trail, there is not much room for error. Minor mis-calculations could quickly turn into real problems. So please carry the right stuff, dress properly, and be ready for a long, steep climb.

Otherwise this is a gorgeous and incredibly rewarding trail, with great views all the way up and down.

This is a strenuous but doable hike, and well worth the effort if you are able.  We did Mailbox Peak old route multiple times this summer, and found the effort to be similar, though clearly very different terrain.

It was quite warm, we didn't get much of a reprieve at elevation and obviously the trail is quite exposed to sun.  There is a lot of haze, I assume from fire smoke.  We barely could see Mt Rainier, just an almost invisible outline, and Mt Adams was only a smidge better.  Locally though, no smell of smoke and we had a great view of the dome and Spirit Lake from the top.

Snow is still present to the sides of trail in some spots, but not much there and glissading seemed out of the question due to exposed rock, large depressions, and what looks might snow bridges collapsing. 

There are lots of details in other recent reviews which were quite useful, the most notable after our hike:

1. There is a LOT of scrambling, maybe 7 or 8 boulder fields to go up, each one becoming progressively shorter/easier.  

2. Some reviewers mention white poles marking a trail.  You are looking for full size fence timbers, 6" wide and 4-6 feet tall. Most are not white, just light colored wood.  (You are not little plastic driveway markers with reflectors).

3. As reviews have said, if you closely follow the poles up the long valley after the first ascent out of the forest, you will be taken up a ridge that appears to involve unnecessary scramble over rocks.  We didn't go that way, so we can't confirm, but no one else was going that way. We and others mostly followed the right side of the valley about 50 feet below the marked ridge.  Once up above, you can turn back and see all the different paths clearly, a picture showing what appear to be popular routes is below.  These routes are not necessarily easy either, there is plenty of loose small rocks to deal with, its a just preference of terrain you want to cover.  

4. At the end of the chute, and through the remaining 7 or so scrambles, take your time to plan your route.  We often found a much easier path just a few feet to the side that had a quick, smaller step path to the top.

The heavy overnight rain was due to stop by 6am and the forecast was for a dry but cloudy day, so we didn’t see any reason to rush. We arrived at the parking lot just after 8am and it is a large parking lot indeed. But although there was plenty of space then, we were puzzled as to why so many vehicles seemed to be parked parallel to the curb, instead of perpendicular (like in a car park) - the paved area is very wide so parking perpendicular seemed to be a more obvious and considerate option. 

The conditions were great: cool, admittedly in low but not claustrophobic cloud for 2/3 of the way, light winds, no dust whatsoever and even the top scree section was quite compacted down by the rain, so that we only broke out the poles for the last 150m vertical or so. At the rim we were above the clouds. Most people stopped just after reaching the rim. We followed the undulating rim trail left, towards the “true summit” until a steep, narrow and very loose descent section just before re-ascent to the summit. There was lots of rockfall evidence so we decided to stop there (it didn’t seem worth the risk continuing) and enjoyed our lunch savouring the views.

Tips and kit: as others have said, look out for a trail on the western side of the ridge (left in ascent), it is c.30-50ft below the true ridge with the white poles, and saves having to do any scrambling except in the higher parts of the ridge and a lot of time and energy. Dust gaiters made the descent more fun (scree skiing) but only one of us wore them, as it wasn’t that loose. It wasn’t going to be hot so we brought 2.5l of water each (incl. 500ml mixed with electrolytes) and didn't drink it all (having stared out well hydrated). 

Overall it was a 7.5h roundtrip including a half-hour stop for lunch at the top and a couple of shorter breaks (we are both experienced hikers and mountaineers). Absolutely spectacular hike and definitely worth seeking out!

This was a "bucket list" hike and I am so pleased I finally made it happen.  My friend and I obtained our hiking permits on July 1 for our August 13 hike, and crossed our fingers for good weather.

We left our hotel in Woodland, WA at 3:30 AM and arrived at the trailhead at about 4:45 AM.   Although you will surely have directions to the trailhead with you or use GPS, there are directional signs at relevant intersections to "Climbers Bivouac" that will provide reassurance you're on the right route.  All roads to the trailhead are paved, easily drivable in pitch darkness, and in good condition EXCEPT for the final two miles:  the section on Forest Service Road 830.  It's a slog with deep ruts and gigantic potholes.  Drive carefully.  It's actually an easier drive at night with your brights on than it is in intense sun and shadows of afternoon.

As the WTA description implies, the hike can be divided into three parts:  forest, boulders, and ash.

We began our hike in the pre-dawn darkness 4:55 AM.  One headlamp for each of us was plenty sufficient for the nice, wide, well-defined opening two miles of the hike through nondescript PNW forestland.  Dawn broke as we neared the end of the forested section of the hike, with some openings in the trees providing some stunning views of Mt. Hood to the south and Mt. Adams to the east, both glowing in the early light.  We cleared the forest at almost exactly the one-hour mark, emerging into the boulder section of the hike.

There is no official trail up the boulder field, but frequently spaced white poles mark the general ascent.  Find your own way.  The white poles generally line a ridgetop, but the going is easier in the lower ground paralleling the ridge on the left (west) (and if you are hiking in the morning, going this way will keep you in the shade of the ridge).  In fact, in some areas you may find a sandy routing that might possibly be called a "trail" under a generous definition of the word "trail".

Eventually you will encounter a monitoring station, which an adjacent explanatory sign labels as a "Network of the Americas Scientific GPS instrument".  From this point onward, you will still encounter some boulders, but for the most part you are in the "dust and ash" section of the hike.  There are no more white poles in the uppermost section of the mountain, but there is some semblance of a trail and in any case all you really need to know at this point is "go up".  

On this particular day, the winds were just brutal starting from the GPS station and upward.  We encountered one group heading down that discouragingly told us they had "given up" due to being sandblasted on the upper slopes.  But we decided to press on nonetheless.  The winds were indeed nasty and the blowing ash was annoying, and the noise of the wind made conversation very difficult.  We finally reached the summit.  The views were amazing but the wind was brutal, pelting us with ash and dust.  We did not even think of breaking out our summit snacks because eating anything would have meant eating 50% ash and dust.  We snapped a few photos and 360-degree videos, and headed down.

The descent through the ash goes very quickly.  You can kind of shuffle your feet through the dust (sort of "ash surfing").  By the time we were about halfway down the ash field, the winds were subsiding.  And by the time we reached the boulder field, they had calmed to a gentle but pleasant breeze.

The most grueling part of the hike is arguably the descent through the boulder field.  You'll have to tread carefully and enjoy the "puzzle" of finding the smartest route down at both a micro-level ("how do I travel the next 30 feet") and a macro-level ("what's my overall descent plan?").  This is not a pleasant hike for those with bad knees.

Finally, we reached the bottom of the boulder field and re-entered the forest.  At this point, we were both anxious to reach the car.  The forested portion of the trail seemed like it took forever, but then we mercifully reached the trailhead and enjoyed the cold drinks we had in an ice-filled cooler.

A few comments:

1. Some recommend gaiters for the ashy portion of the trail.  My hiking partner and I brought them but did not wear them.  In my opinion, they are not necessary if you have decent hiking boots that cover the ankles, decent socks, and sufficiently long pants.  Save the backpack capacity.

2. I'd recommend hiking poles.  They work very nicely in the ashy section.

3. I also recommend a pair of work gloves, which are nice for gripping rocks on both the ascent and descent of the boulder field.

4. The forested section is easily navigated in the dark with headlamps.  However, I would think that the boulder field would be very difficult in the dark, so I would not recommend a start so early that you will be in the dark for the boulder field.  That said, we did encounter a pair of guys coming down from the summit who said they had started their hike at 12:55 AM.  So apparently it is POSSIBLE.

5. The trailhead parking lot is sizable and capacity did not seem to be an issue on this mid-August Wednesday.

6. I brought 5 liters of water and also a 28 oz. (0.828 liter) bottle of Powerade.  In retrospect this was too much as I drank only 2L the water.  But I suppose it is better to bring it and not drink it than to not drink it and need it.

Timeline (two males in our mid-50s, not fitness mavens but in reasonable shape):
Hike start: 4:55 AM
Reach top of forested section:  5:58 AM (1 hour 3 minutes from start)
Reach GPS monitoring station (roughly top of boulder field):  8:05 AM (3 hours 10 minutes from start)
Reach crater rim:  9:30 AM (4 hours 35 minutes from start)
Begin descent:  9:47 AM
Return to top of forest:  12:57 PM (3 hours 10 minutes from top)
Return to trailhead:  1:59 PM (4 hours 12 minutes from top)

Net duration car-to-car:  9 hours 4 minutes

 I  climbed Mt St Helens 46 years ago,  in July of 1979; a lot has happened to the mountain since then! 

We arrived the night before our permit date, around 4, and had many camp sites to choose from. No water but most sites have a nice level tent pad; the fire pits were taped over. Pit toilets weren't bad either. The climbing permit includes the camping/parking fee. 

We started at 5am, made it briskly through the forest section; and then the boulder fields. Ah the boulder fields, they are amazing but also never seem to end, you get through one and there's another. The first has a pretty obvious route but then come the poles. If you stick to following the poles you will end up going over more boulders. We started out this way but soon notice people down below, to one's left,  going on a pretty nice path along the ravine. This is the route we took back and it will save a lot of time and energy going this route. 

The next boulder fields didn't seem to have a bypass option, it's simply up and over very steep piles of boulders. No video I watched really captured just how massive and vertical these fields are. You will need to find your own path of least resistance here,  you will see foot prints here and there in the sand. These sections are pretty easy to scramble, it's just that there are so many! they never seem to end. We didn't use gloves but I can see where they would be very helpful should one fall; the rocks are quite sharp; a fall/slip could cause serious injury!

Finally one comes to the steep sandy/rocky area and then the final sandy stretch. Poles and planting one's feet firmly helps; It's steep but I really didn't slip that much here. We summited at Noon, and spent about an hour on the ridge. Butterflies were everywhere at the summit; wind was mild. 

Coming down was the reverse but the boulder fields are more difficult to navigate and at 68 I was extra careful to navigate the boulders with care.

Pretty much out of energy,  we made it back to the parking lot at 5pm. It was a very hot day and I used all 5 liters of water I brought. In hind sight I should have worn boots instead of trail runners.