Summited St. Helens this Monday. We left the trailhead at 5AM and summited at 10AM with a decent amount of breaks. My group of 5 made it to the false summit, but only 2 of us split off to traverse to the true summit. Microspikes can get you to the false summit if you have an ice axe or poles for support, but crampons are necessary for this section. It is extremely sunny above the cloudline so bring sunscreen and sunglasses. Round trip with true summit is 13.5 miles. Glissading down was a blast! You can drop over 4000ft of elevation back to the trees. Snowshoes brought but not needed. It is very slushy up and down so start as early as you can. 

Beautiful day on Helens despite the forecast of rain and thunderstorms that almost kept us away! Left parking lot at 8:30am, made several stops along the way, especially once we were in the snowfields to take photos of the amazing views of Mt Adams and Mt Jefferson, and reached the summit at 2pm. By the time we got to the top, the clouds had rolled in, along with some freakishly close thunder so we didn’t stay too long at the summit. Then came the ridiculously fun glissading, through some pretty cool chutes at times too. Made it back to the car just before 5pm. Had maybe 10min of rain all day and mostly clear skies. We had brought micro spikes, crampons, ice axes, poles, and snowshoes- definitely didn’t need the snowshoes. In fact, it was harder with them on bc footsteps are already carved out up the steep sections and snowshoes won’t fit in them. Two of the three of us didn’t even put them on- you definitely don’t need snowshoes right now, they’d just be extra weight. You will be perfectly fine with micro spikes, crampons, yak tracks, or even just some good boots- saw plenty of people hiking up with just poles. Had minimal postholing bc paths were pretty packed down. You could leave the ice ax behind too if you’re bringing at least one pole- which you definitely should bring for the way up and just use the handle as your break for glissading on the way down. Last thoughts: sunblock, sunglasses, and trash bags for your butt on the way down! Also don’t forget plenty of water. Have fun!!

Beautiful day on St. Helens! Snow on all but the first mile, where it is intermittent. Started at 5:15am, and it was mostly firm on the way up. Summit at noon, snow still ok. By about 1 it was pretty slushy. Lots of people in crampons or snowshoes, but they weren't necessary. My whole group wore microspikes the whole way and had no problems. Mostly glissaded down. Chutes available from the summit until about half way between the monitor and chocolate falls. Super fun! For the small stretches between chutes, plunge stepping worked fine. Even though it was cloudy, they were high clouds and we had amazing views of Adams, Rainier, Hood, and Jefferson. There was a chute above monitor ridge with really high walls, probably 4 feet high. Do not take this one! We looked at it from an angle and there are exposed rocks about half way down it! There are 2 other chutes in the same area, one with about 3 ft walls, and another that is just started. These 2 are fine. Also...saw a lot of people glissading with crampons on their feet. Please don't do this! If a crampon tip hits an obstacle like a rock under the snow, it will catch and you will break a leg! Also saw a lot of people heading down chutes holding ice axes in dangerous ways, with the pick aimed right at their stomach or thigh. Please, if you are going to use rent crampons and ice axe, at least watch some YouTube videos or something before you go sliding down a mountain at 20 miles an hour with a weapon in your hand. Thankfully, didn't actually have to treat any injuries along the way...but there were certainly a lot of people tempting fate. Be careful up there!

My boyfriend and I did this hike yesterday. It was amazing! We drove up Friday and got to the parking lot at 1015pm. Plenty of cars but still plenty of room. We started our hike at 630 but may people started earlier (and woke us up  ;) ). 

We used snow shoes until the midmountain weather station at which point we switched to microspikes. I don't know how anyone used anything but spikes or crampons to get up past there. In hindsight I would have used crampons the entire time and relieved my back of some weight.  It was snow the entire time with the exception of a 5 min rock scramble early on. Weather was cloudy and warm. A lot of people had shorts and short sleeves. The only cold time was of course at the top! Which is beautiful by the way.

We stopped a bunch and made it up after 6 hours. Back down to the car in another 3. Glissading down is SO fun and I recommend it. This was the only time I needed my ice axe. 

There were a few dogs, one awesome golden retriever and 2 not well trained aussies withwith ow that didn't care. More Goldens, less Aussies I hope next time :). 

Bring sunscreen, bring food, bring a contractor garbage bag to glissade. Poles  and crampons are a must.  The hike is long but so worth it.