Mount St. Helens - Monitor Ridge — Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

First time climbing Mt St Helens and I had a blast! Left Tacoma shortly after midnight and was on the trail at 3:50am. Hiking by headlamp through the forest was a bit creepy but good experience! The trail description gives a good overview of what to expect- two miles of trail, two or so miles of boulders and a looooong climb up the ash to the summit. I took a break right before the climb to drink some water/have a snack and stretch out a bit (and capture some sunrise photos!) which helped. Having poles for this section is almost mandatory I’d say, otherwise you’ll be slipping down the incline. The photo with my boots is what this final section looks like for reference. Back at the trailhead around 10:30am and passed about 30-40’people on their way up. I’d recommend going earlier to beat the crowd/heat because the feeling of solitary on the mountain during the early morning is pretty amazing! Also met two climbing rangers on my way down who were checking for permits! One of them said they’ll summit around 4x per week so don’t expect to get away with climbing without a permit!