St. Helens has never failed to amaze me with its gorgeous view both on the trail and at the crater rim. Today is by far the most beautiful day I had here. We had an awesome day with a great group. Everyone were prepared mentally and gear wise (actually, overprepared cause we were extra cautious). Everyone was self motivated, and motivating, powering each other thru the hike. Loved the group!!!
Driving
We arrived 9:45pm the day before. Most of us slept in the car, and some set up tent next to the car.
No parking permit was needed since April this year. You might find multiple websites that mention a date after which no parking permit is needed. It changes from year to year; make sure to call ranger to double check.
Gear
Mountaineering boots OR hiking boots with crampons
Gaiters
Hat (with long brim and cape)
Gloves
Trekking poles
Ice axe with leash
Sunscreen
Lip balm w/ SPF
Glacier glasses
The rest of 10 essentials not mentioned above
* We carried crampons and snowshoes (based on my experience here 2 weeks ago, when both were required), but did not use either.
** Gaiters were absolutely a must for glissading, especially in wet and slushy snow. I did without, got ice in my boots, regretted every second of it, and spent a week drying my boots :(
Hike
Started 5:15am, and summitted 11:30am (took snacks and photo breaks in between), and back to car ~3pm.
We tried to register at the trailhead registrar, but all the pages in the book were filled, so we couldn't. But normally you register your entire party (everyone's name, expected return time, car info) before the hike, and after the hike, you come back to write down the actual return time.
Snow was already soft when we started. We managed with mountaineering boots all the way. No many people used snowshoes, and they looked like an overkill to me (too bulky, not providing much help). The entire trail was well beaten down with deep boot paths, and easy to follow. We used trekking poles. Every time I turned back to see the path we just came up from, I was amazed by how beautiful it was.
I was surprised by how much snow has melt in the last 2 weeks. At just over 4,000 ft, where I skipped with my snowshoes in a kinda icy part last time, it was already exposed with rocks and ashes. Loose ashes were particularly unpleasant. Occasionally people ahead of you yelled 'rock' because of the small rocks they tried to hold on to avalanched down. Thank god it lasted for just ~15 minutes. Someone of us even took a detour in the deep snow to avoid it. I'd rather posthole in the snow than slipping in the sand.
We stayed at the summit for about an hour to embrace the view and take pictures. Luckily it was too windy there. Didn't go to the true summit, and didn't see many people going either, because the cornices looked sketchy.
Glissading was definitely the highlight. We glissaded all the way from the summit to around 4,800ft, where there is a sign that says climbing permit is required beyond this point! We only had to stand up a few times to move to a chute nearby to continue. Most of time you naturally glissading from one chute to another. The glissading started with a deeper chute that had a sudden drop. Many people managed with trekking poles, but I'd be extra cautions and bring an ice axe. Later it had a few sudden drops here and there. But nothing too scary. Overall the chutes were well defined - deep and straightforward enough that you can see obviously where it leads to.
The way I attached snowshoes to my pack made it catch too much ice, which made my glissading go way slower. Sometime I wasn't even going anywhere lol. Other times I was waiting for the people behind me to give me a little momentum.
Just be aware of where you are going to. People have created too many chutes that can potentially confuse you and make you think you can literally go anywhere. Don't simply follow people. When you approach 4,800ft, there are 2 chutes that lead to 2 gullies, on both sides of path with exposed rocks and dirt. Stick to the left one (from the perspective of looking down hill), because the right chute will lead you to continue in the summer route. We ended up at the right (as with many other people), stood up, crossed the rocky path, and continued on the other side.
Ski
Lots of skiers also seemed to have a great time. A note from a friend who skiied that day, in case you are wondering what the condition was like:
"Skiing was really fun. There were some challenging steep sections, but we kept the skis on the whole time. We skied to within .75 miles of the parking lot then hit too much dirt to continue. I recommend carefully choosing route based on avy terrain. Snow was soft. No ski crampons needed."
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