Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Friday, May. 4, 2018

1st timer. Got the parking lot at 5 AM, started hiking 5:15. There were a large number of people starting around that same time. There was snow almost as soon as we started from the trailhead so we put our microspikes on early. Hiked with head lamps for the first 45 mins until the sun rose. The first 2 miles was a hike in the meadows with minimal elevation gain. Above timberline, there was a short section of moderate elevation gain with areas of lava rock requiring a bit of scrambling (some people scrambled the whole way through this section; we scrambled a bit and then got back in the snow when we could). Following this was the nonstop uphill portion. Luckily, many people before us had kicked steps so were able to just follow in those steps. There are 4 false summits - the trek to the 3rd one is the longest and most intimidating, but we just trudged along in the single file line of climbers all striving for the same goal. After you get past the 3rd false summit, there is only a tiny bit more to go and then you're there! We summited at 1 pm after taking many breaks. The view was amazing. We could see Mt Ranier, Adams, Jefferson, and Hood from the top. Coming down, the snow was even softer. Most people glissaded for large portions. My hiking partner didn't want to glissade so we mostly hiked and this was actually more challenging than the ascent in many portions because it was so slippery/slushy and we were post-holing a ton. I was very thankful for my gaiters but envious of all the people on their skis and boards. Got back to the car around 6:30 pm (much later than most because we didn't glissade). A great experience and well worth the hard work. Recommend microspikes or crampons, hiking poles, gaiters, sunscreen, sunglasses, hat/buff. Almost everyone had an ice axe. Many people had snowshoes but most didn't seem to wear them.