Mount St. Helens - Monitor Ridge — Thursday, Sep. 23, 2021

First time up Monitor Ridge. Camped out at the trailhead night prior. Super foggy and chill until some folks rolled in at 3am incredibly noisy. I get your excitement, but cmon be respectful.

Within the first mile of our 0630 start, SAR was littering out an individual who had spent an uncomfortable night on the mountain. The individual is going to be fine.

Hike is as everyone else has posted. Smooth sailing in the trees, then the boulders, then the ash ascent. View was stunning as it was a crystal clear day. Based on some of the reviews, I prepared myself for a tough tough day by working on my liver exercises in the days leading up to the hike, as the permit grab came by surprise only 2 weeks ago. It was tough, but not that bad. I’m in decent shape for forty something - I mean I did p90x 7 years ago so there’s that. About 7.5 hours round trip including lunch at the rim (no time summit).

Met some great people on the mountain, and I was appreciative of it not being the same personalities as the i90 alpine lakes visitors. Support the local Cougar eateries and fuel station when you go! Don’t just come thru hike and leave.

Agree with others, you should bring garden gloves with grips for the bouldering. I read people reco boots and gaiters. Meh, I wore runners and gaiters. Only got ash and pebbles in my kicks on the descent running down the scrash. I stopped once and dumped them out and was good. Was glad I wasn’t in boots.