Mount St. Helens - Worm Flows Route — Monday, May. 7, 2001

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

St. Helens via Worm Flow route Excellent conditions. Crampons are useful if you leave early: there are a few steeper sections that, when frozen, can be a bit uncomfortable without them. We left at 4:45 from our campsite above the timberline (""the flats"" - approx 4100 feet), and had nice hard snow all the way to the top 3+ hrs later. The snow started to get soft around 9 in the morning when the sun hit, and by noon it was slush. There are literally hundreds of people on this route around noon, leaving early definitely pays off.