We left at 1000 and arrived back at the car by 1745. The route was easy to follow, and we encountered a couple other groups of people. The weather was superb, with sun and slight winds at the summit. Be careful of the cornice. Microspikes were sufficient, and have an Ice axe!

Late spring conditions on March 1st! The sun was beating down with very little wind so it was shorts and t-shirt weather for most of the climb. We booted it up with some skier friends. They transitioned to skis at ~5,400' which means they hauled their skis for miles, sometimes over large boulders. The trail is snow-free until at least 4,800'. There is a variety of snow conditions, from icy to drifts up to a foot, so be prepared for a range. We had crampons but didn't use them; microspikes were sufficient. Ice axe, beacon, shovel, probe, and crampons are all recommended, despite the low snow level. And mind the cornice! Most parties were avoiding the true summit due to snow stability concerns. We left the Marble Mountain parking lot at 9:08am, after most people, and made it back at 5:41pm. The road to Climber's Bivouac is closed and the road is closed beyond Marble Mountain.

We hiked Swift Creek trail to Worm Flow climbing route. On the way back, we side tracked along Pika Trail to June Lake. No snow on route till maybe the top 1000' from the rim. You can hike on Worm Flow for 3+ hours without snow. You may see snow patches here and there on other sections. Pika Trail is all boulders. June Lake is very small and shallow. But pretty enough. Flat lake shore for sitting. A waterfall flows down to the lake, with perfect reflection. To the left, there's another small waterfall, not as pretty, but it's an easy 5 minute walk. Now photos: Almost bare Mt St Helens: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-QqNp3LfwSKc/VO40fXLjk8I/AAAAAAAAFtg/fkEksjt-x4A/w1026-h412-no/20150222_121039_StHelens.jpg June Lake with the waterfall: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F22JYWXm8lM/VO43_AmNptI/AAAAAAAAFto/SipoOOWm62Y/s1600/20150222_145546_JuneLake.jpg The small waterfall to the left of the lake: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VYmEMRyGER4/VO5FhA76k9I/AAAAAAAAFt4/S6bwq2rtJn8/s1600/20150222_rainbows.jpeg

No snow at the trail head. We didn't encounter snow until we were well above the treeline, about an hour into the hike. The snow was hard-packed and icy until we started to hit patches of loose powder near the summit. I made it all the way to the summit in hiking boots and micro spikes, but when I started working my way around the crater to explore the other peaks I ran into steep sections of solid ice and had to get out my crampons. It was also starting to get very windy at this point, which was not helping. I wound up wearing the crampons on the way down because I gave my micro spikes to a woman we encountered who was attempting the climb with no ice traction aid whatsoever (and falling repeatedly). I would suggest anyone climbing to the summit bring micro spikes at least. In the afternoon the snow turned to slush and we were able to remove our crampons and glissade down a fair distance (maybe 1000 ft of vertical) until there was too much exposed rock to safely slide any further. This route usually has a lot more snow in February, but it was a very pleasant day on the mountain regardless.

We left for Cougar, WA on Friday from Seattle area around 6PM. We reached the Lone Fir motel around 10PM. By 3.00 AM, we were on trail hiking toward the summit. The road to the Marble Mount Snow Park is completely snow-free and so is the trail until you get to around 5000 ft. Since we started early, the snow was very firm and above 7500 ft, it was solid ice. The route follows the thin line between the Swift Glacier and Dryer Glacier. At that time only one other climber was trying to summit. Our party of 5 made it to the top without issues. On our way back, the snow was very soft and every step I took was going in at least 10 inches and there were around 50 climbers going up.