TL;DR: Start early, bring more water than you think you'll need, and stay left!

We arrived at Climbers Bivouac around 7:30 the night before our hike. The last ~2 miles of the road are full of potholes/washboarding, making for a particularly bumpy ride. There were about two dozen other cars at the trailhead when we arrived, leaving plenty of space for us to park and camp. Pit toilets did not have paper in the evening but were restocked by the time we finished the following afternoon.

We signed the register and started our hike just before 5 a.m. We popped out of the forest just before the sunrise, and stopped at the first section of boulders to take in beautiful views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood.

A Mount St. Helens Institute volunteer told us that most people reach the boulders and immediately begin scrambling, but if you stay left you'll find the more defined trail. "Stay left" became our rule of the day and saved us so much effort. We hiked steadily up the trail, keeping the wood markers and other hikers on the ridge in sight. We were able to complete most of the boulder field before the sun crested the ridge.

Once the boulders transitioned to smaller rocks and ash, our progress felt extra slow. We took small steps and frequent breaks. We reached the summit rim by 9:45 and enjoyed an early lunch.

It was already starting to get hot, so we headed down after 30 minutes at the rim. The ash field passed quickly. Route finding through the boulders was easier on the way down but still difficult. It was helpful to have work gloves to touch the hot/sharp rocks. About halfway between the two monitoring stations, we found a small stream with freezing cold water running right alongside the trail. Amazing!

The last two miles in the forest were so easy compared to everything else, plus there were ripe huckleberries! We returned to the trailhead by 2:15, making our total time 9 hours 20 minutes with about 30 minutes at the summit.

We both carried 4 liters of water and drank most of it. Shoutout to MSHI volunteer Beth for her helpful tips and being out there hiking on such a hot day to help people and provide extra water! There were three other volunteers out as well helping a dehydrated hiker. Thank you!!

After finally securing permits after a few years of admittedly lax planning, our group of three hiked St. Helens this year.

We arrived the evening before - me around 3:00pm and the others around 6:30pm. It was rainy and unseaonably chilly at camp, but that did not deter others from doing the same. After setting up our tents and eating dinner in the rain, we settled in for the night. 

Given the low temperatures and forecast for clouds and potential rain in the monring, we decided on a later start than originally planned - around 5:00am we hit the trail. 

We reached the ridge proper after about 1 hour 30 minutes. While we certainly weren't setting any land speed records, we plodded along, going up along the ridge at a steady pace. I agree with some other reports saying the boulder fields go on for quite a while, certainly longer than we expected. I would argue that gloves are really something to consider given the amount of time spent scrambling and especially given it was still wet in some sections from the previous day's rain. 

Most of the morning and into the early afternoon the trail from about halfway up the boulder field to the ash field was in the clouds. Routefinding wasn't bad, but as a result we stayed up on the boulders instead of taking the path to the left because we weren't sure if or when we'd lose sight. I can see how taking the trail up would save some time. When in doubt, trend up and right.

The ash field wasn't too bad for us - I think because of the rain from the previous day kept it matted down some. We all brought gaiters but didn't use them.

We spent about 30 minutes at the crater rim then turned around for the hike down. It was nice having trekking poles and again the gloves were lifesavers. All in it took us about 12 hours 20 minutes, as we definitely took it slow and steady most of the hike.

I carried 3 L of water but only needed about 1.75 liters. Given it was chilly the day we went up, I could see wanting more especially if it's hot. I hiked South Sister Mountain four days later and drank 3.5 liters on a 100 degree day.

On a separate note, we encountered the best of the hiking community. Near the end of the trail, we ran into a man named Alex, who was going back UP the trail - yes, after going up and down earlier in the day - stopped to chat with us for a second. He was going back up to help some other hikers who were going slow and didn't have flashlights. He had also overheard us mentioning how one in our party lost their phone on the hike. He saw the phone and said he'd bring it back, unless someone else happened to grab it, which they had. The phone was back to us about 2 hours later. Thanks to Alex and the other two hikers - a father and his daughter - to assisting us in getting back our phone. 

This was my fifth time tackling this hike. We set out at 2:30 AM to the haunting sounds of owls calling through the darkness.

About half a mile from the trailhead, we encountered a cougar preparing to cross our path from the woods. We froze as it assessed us, then slowly retreated back into the forest. Even after we cautiously passed the spot, we could still see its eyes reflecting our headlamp beams from the shadows. The animal seemed more wary of us than aggressive, but I'd recommend extra caution if you're hiking solo in these pre-dawn hours.

The early start paid off with a spectacular sunrise view of Mt. Adams. We watched in awe as the mountain's shadow swept dramatically across the landscape and sky—one of those moments that makes the 2:30 AM wake-up call worth it.

Total hiking time was just under 10 hours.

Got a last minute weekday permit (!) and made a detour to fast-hike the summer route on my way home to Seattle. I'd ski toured Worm Flows before, but hadn't checked out Monitor Ridge.

The first couple miles of the trail weave through a beautiful forest before emerging below the lava "rock garden." Although there does appear to be a trail through certain sections, I found it really hard to follow consistently. As a result, I was off-route a good portion of the time and ended up doing some class II scrambling. This made for slow going, and I was really glad I left early (departed TH 0545) to avoid the hot mid-day sun. Being that this was my third volcano summit in a week, I was also being extra cautious knowing that I was tired.

The final push to the crater rim - affectionately known as the "vertical beach" due to the sandy nature of the trail - wasn't that bad, honestly. I didn't bother wearing gaiters because it was just too hot. Stopped and took off my boots on the way down to shake out the rocks. 

My total moving time for the day (up/down) was ~5 hours. It's recommended to bring ~4L water; I brought less knowing my pace would be fast, but if you're planning to move slower or will be out in the heat of the day, go with the advised amount. Also remember to bring a hat, sunglasses and some light gloves to protect your hands in the rock garden.

4:15am start, parking lot was maybe half-full. ptarmigan is well marked and easy to follow, even in the dark. monitor ridge requires some route finding but nothing hard. summited at 7:00am

passed by a few slow groups early on and then had the trail to myself until the final push to the true summit. good views of hood, adams, rainier, and baker in the distance. tons of people coming up as I was on my downhike, seemed like most opted to start after sunrise. brought 3l of water which was overkill, only ended up drinking 1l. finished at 11am