Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Saturday, Jul. 8, 2017

Parked at the Marble Mountain Sno-Park Friday night around 10pm. slept in the back of my truck until 3am. After morning breakfast and gear check, started out at 3:45am. Flashlight and headlamp through the forest. Follow the signs toward Worm Flows. There was a downed tree with 2 more behind it across the trial. Keep going, you're still on the correct path. Come out of the forest to the treeline. Once you cross over Chocolate Falls and continue up, at least for me, it became a "choose your own adventure." I stayed on the same path most of the way up, but saw a path across the snow to another section of solid rock that seemed to lead to the western side and an easier climb. Sunrise was amazing. I recommend poles to help take the weight off your legs. I cramped up several times (was using a monopod and ice axe to stabilize). Got to the top around 9:20 am. Ate, drank, took pictures, and admired the view. Glissading down was a lot of fun, but tricky. Recommend an ice axe to help stop yourself. FOR ME, the way back down was disorienting. I ended up heading towards the bivouac, then overshot my way towards the falls. I ended up finding a trail far north of Chocolate Falls, and followed it back to the crossing (luckily). Way back to the Sno-Park was straight forward.