Started at 7.30am in a bit cold/foggy weather, there were already around 15 cars in parking lot at Marble Mountain Sno-park for the winter route, we registered, grabbed the bags for permit and started heading out. It was a pleasant gradual walk in the wooded area until we got out of the trees, it became really sunny and hot. We crossed what we believed was the river path. After passing 4800ft, the trail became a bit challenging with boulders and sandy ground, and some rocks were loose so having trekking poles were helpful. There were at least 100 ppl we saw that day both coming down and also hiking up. After reaching the seismic station, we continued with the first snow trail though you could also go up on the boulder trail that ran in parallel. With crampons, we felt hiking up on snow was easier and faster though the snow was a little icy but ready to start melting. It felt like forever to reach the top around 12.30pm. There were like 30-40 ppl up at the rim enjoying the view of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, less than 10 ppl hiked further to the real summit. We stayed for 30 mins and decided to glissade down as more and more people arrived. We used existing glissade shoot to go down, but be aware of which direction the shoot led you otherwise you might end up on another side of the mountain. We ended up taking 3-4 shoots to get back to the seismic station in 40 mins or so. Using an ice axe for the first time to control the speed was manageable. Hiking down the boulders was quick but dangerous with loose ground, recommend using the trekking poles. You would be completely covered in dust by the time you got back to the trailhead. Took us 9 hrs altogether, we got back to our car around 4.30pm to find out we have a cracked windshield :(

After a weekend of moving followed by a week of fighting the crud (which is still hanging around in my lungs), I finally made it back into the mountains. I probably would’ve went somewhere a bit less challenging since I wasn’t quite 100% but I bought the permit months ago and it was my big 5-0 birthday. This was my fifth attempt and fourth successful summit of Mt. St. Helens, the last success was on my birthday last year. Once again, I lucked out with gorgeous weather for my birthday hike. The climber’s bivouac is not open yet (the USFS website says mid-May but I drove up the road just to check) so the trail begins at the Marble Mountain sno-park and is a bit longer and gains more elevation then the Monitor Ridge route. There were a handful of cars in the parking lot when I arrived a little before 8:00am. I began the hike shortly after 8:00am. The trail starts off gently winding through the shaded forest, which makes for a great warm up on the way up and wind down on the return. Once out of the forest I stopped to put on sunscreen and sunglasses and to take off a layer. The trail still is fairly moderate for a while longer before the steep rocky climb up the spine begins. Around 5650’ is a flat area that is home to a seismic monitoring station and is more or less the end of the boulder climbing. Snow began a little further on around 6000’ and was soft enough to kick in steps but firm enough not to post hole. There was definitely no need for snowshoes and I was glad I left mine in the car. The wind started to pick up there and really picked up after the false summit, where I stopped to add a bunch of layers. I also put on crampons at the false summit when the snow started getting a bit icier. It was possible to make it up without crampons but it was a lot easier with them on. I arrived at the summit at 1:25pm, five hours and fifteen minutes from the parking lot. There were three other people at the summit when I arrived but there were another six or ten right behind me. It wasn’t very windy at the summit, unlike the approach, but it was chilly so I threw on my parka. The view was fantastic. Despite the cornice, it was still possible to get close enough to the edge to get a good view of the crater and dome and a couple steam vents below. A co-worker just finished brewing his first batch of beer just a week or so ago and I happened to bring a bottle with me. What better way to celebrate my birthday! Luckily a fellow hiker had a bottle opener as I didn’t quite prepare for that. I stayed at the summit for an hour and a half enjoying a BLT, the beer, and the amazing view. I started back down at 2:55pm. It’s possible to glissade large portions of the way from the summit to just above the seismic monitoring station at 5650’. What took two hours and forty-five minutes up from that point only took forty-five minutes down. That was quite the fun slide. Unfortunately not a whole lot of time was saved the rest of the way down as climbing down rocks almost sucks as much as climbing up them. The way back through the forest was a great wind down though it seemed to go on forever. I finally made it back to the parking lot at 5:40pm for a total return time of two hours and forty-five minutes.

Boy did we luck out on the weather! This weekend's forecast for sure had us thinking rain, but other than some fog it was gorgeous. We left the Sno Park around 9:30. There had been some new snowfall Friday night so there was some snow below the tree line, gradually getting deeper on the way up. We were able to scramble hand-over-foot up the boulder field without any special equipment. Once we reached the snowfield everyone put on YakTrax (crampons were not needed). Tough tough slog to the summit, but so worth it. It had been pretty cloudy on the way up. At one point it was so thick we couldn't see the summit anymore. Once we got there we waited about 20 minutes and then the clouds broke and you could see everything! We didn't bring the equipment for glissading so the descent was pretty hard on the knees. We were able to follow the boulder field down while staying on the snow until about halfway through. 9.5 hour total trip up & down. Very challenging hike, but a good first mountain for someone looking into some serious climbing. It was so much fun!

We got super lucky and had great weather and a great hike this weekend. Forecasts bounced all over during the week leading up to our hike, variably predicting everything from rain to heavy snow, and we fell asleep on Friday listening to rain on the tent. To our happy surprise, Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, and we set out from the parking lot at 7:30, just behind the parties breaking trail. Snow had fallen overnight, and the trail was completely covered at about 1/2 mile in. The higher we climbed, the deeper the snow got, and by the boulder field there was a good 4-6 inches, which made for some slippery scrambling. At the top of the boulder field we put on crampons, and left them for the rest of the climb. Other parties used Yaktrax or microspikes, and they would have been sufficient. Snow was pretty windblown and crusty in spots, and the extra traction was nice. I wouldn't want to bare-boot at this time of year. We carried ice axes, but never used them - trekking poles were definitely nice to have though. We reached the summit at 12:30, and had just enough time for a look around before some clouds rolled in. We left the summit around 1:15 for the long walk back to the car. Visibility was poor off and on, and we briefly lost the trail in a moment of whiteout. We thought we would be able to easily follow hiker footsteps back down, but on some of the harder windblown snow, they were easy to lose. We ended up on the wrong ridgeline (slightly west of the trail) and had to cross a gully to regain the correct trail once we could see again. In retrospect, we should have brought a GPS and made waypoints on the ascent to follow back down. Crisis averted, and lesson learned. Most of the descent was too soft for effective glissading, but perfect for plunge stepping. I did try some glissading lower down with the aid of a trash bag, and was able to slide for a couple hundred yards. Fun stuff, but not super efficient. We reached the boulder field around 3:00, and the warm temperatures and crowds of people had turned the trail into a slippery, slushy mess. We tried to stick to the snow on the sides as much as possible, but eventually ran out of room and had to make our way through the rocks. We took it nice and slow and still had a handful of slips and near falls. Definitely be careful heading through this part of the hike. Once out of the rocks, the rest of the trail was fast and smooth, and we reached the car at 5:00 PM for a total hiking time of 9.5 hours. This hike was definitely challenging, but made for a very enjoyable early start to the climbing season.

We went down the night before and camped off a little spur in the road a little bit past the Sno-Park. Pretty good campsite. Got colder at night than I expected. A few mosquitoes out, but did not get bitten. Drove by the road to Climbers Bivouac, which is still closed. So we did the winter route. We hit the trail about 8 AM the next morning. The first couple miles are an easy walk through forest, but you'll pay for it with the elevation gain. As the trail starts climbing out of the forest the path gets steeper and rockier, until it's a scramble over rocks. Some of these along a steep gully were pretty precarious, so had to take it slow and careful. By the 5000 ft range snow started getting more and more widespread, though in some places it was a still possible to walk on rocks. The snow was getting fairly slushy but we did not sink in too much following the boot tracks. Microspikes and poles worked well, but it would be pretty slippery without traction. A few people had snowshoes, but I would rather sink a bit in the snow than work that hard for that much of a climb. From then on, just a slog through increasingly steeper snowfields. Took many short breaks, huffed and puffed, but eventually made it to the top around 12:30. The day was a bit hazy but the view from the top was great. People were wisely staying well back from the cornice at the crater rim, but it was still possible to get a good view of the crater and lava dome. Left the top about 1:00. On the way down, we were able to glissade about 3000 vertical feet until the snow petered out and got too soft to effectively walk through. From there, it was more scrambling over rocks, something my knees were no longer excited about. By the time we hit the woods again, temps were in the 70s. Made it back to the car around 3:30 for the long drive back to Seattle area. Easily the toughest hike I've done, but went better than I expected. Bring lots of food, water and sun protection, take your time, and enjoy the glissading while it lasts. At this rate the mountain is going to be bare before too long.