So here we were Sunday morning in Yakima, not a cloud in the sky and three big beautiful volcanoes calling our names. Karen wanted to climb Mt. St. Helens. I resisted because we would need to get a permit, we were really far away and the weatherman had predicted scattered thunderstorms for Monday. Climbing it would also mean a really long drive back to Canada in the thick of holiday traffic Monday night. We compromised; we headed down highway #12 with an open mind looking for a Ranger we could talk with. The Natches Ranger station was closed but we were able to pick up a wealth of useful pamphlets. We stopped briefly at Clear Creek Falls before cresting White Pass. I actually gasped when I got my first look at Rainier. I have traveled many times in and around Seattle and had never really seen this mountain in its full glory. Wearing only a thin frying pan like cloud on its summit it was a magnificent sight. We detoured up to the Oppengosh' Ranger station to find it closed too. In fact so was every other one along the way. Road reports were posted so we knew to avoid #25 and go around the long way to I-5. We briefly talked to an ‘interpreter’ at the visitor center near Castle Rock. She warned us that there would be snow on the route! I never would have guessed that from the completely white volcano I could see out the window. We exited at Woodland and saw a sign for Mt. St. Helens that said the roads to Ape Cave & Lava Canyon were closed. I thought this was unusual since I have twice hiked the Ape Cave in April and had no trouble reaching the area. We stopped at Jack’s but there were unable to hand out any permits until 6pm. With time to kill we went up to the Lava Canyon, which was not only open but also full of people. The view of Mt. St. Helens from Lahar is incredible. Back at Jack’s again we read the warning dated May 18th that said the road to Climber Bivouac was closed and that trail difficult to follow. That meant the Worm Route, 2 miles longer each way & 1000 feet lower was our only option. However as climbers returned to sign out I found out that most of them had taken Monitor Ridge and that the trail was very easy to follow. We got our permit a 6pm; there was only one other party waiting. The drive up to Climber’s Bivouac was a challenge but our twelve-year-old Corolla make to within 100 feet of the parking lot. Beyond that point there is over a foot of snow still on the ground. We set up camp and went to bed right away. My watch was set to 4am so we had to get some rest, but who could sleep' We were going to climb world famous Mt. St. Helens the next day! The idea of starting the ascent at 4am was so that we could use crampons and climb the snow while it was still hard rather than post-hole our way to the top. We also brought along headlamps so that we could make our way in the dark. Surprisingly it was pretty light out at 4:45 when we got started and the snow was soft enough that crampons weren’t needed. We had no problem finding the trail through the woods; lots of muddy boots trudging through the snow had made the route obvious. We past the tree line in about an hour, a series of posts marks the route all the way up the ridge to the summit. There was not a cloud in the sky and with each step the views got better. First Mt. Adams, then Mt. Hood, which is near Portland, next came Mt. Jeffereson, which is further south and finally we saw what I believe are the Three Sisters. We stuck mostly to the rocks and kept up a steady pace. In total it took us 4.5 hours to get from the parking lot to the rim. The sight when you first reach the rim of the crater and see Rainier clear and crisp against a perfect blue sky towering above Spirit Lake and the blast zone is one of those rare intoxicating moments that keep you addicted to hiking. Mt. Baker and Glacier Peak are also visible making a total of seven of the Cascades finest on display. Best of all we had the place to ourselves. And to top it all off you get to slide back down 4000ft on your butt! It’s better than an E-ticket ride at Disney World, especially when zoom past the poor unfortunate souls who started late, are stuck knee deep in snow and still have hours worth of climbing ahead of them. Because of the perfect weather, the snow conditions & the solitude that came with it being a weekday it turned out to be “one of the best” hikes we’ve ever done. The drive back sucked but we would do it again in a heartbeat. Happy Hiking David & Karen

A group of friends and I decided to climb Mt. St. Helens this past weekend (5/12/2001) since this was the last weekend to do so before reservations were required. We arrived in Cougar, WA Friday evening (and stayed up too late drinking) then got up at 5:15, got our permits at Jack's Resturant, ate breakfast and drove as far as we could before snow closed the road, elevation 2900’. It was here I noticed that I had forgotten my gaiters, but luckily someone else had a crappy old pair that I used. We decided to give the Monitor Ridge route a try, even though it meant walking 3 miles on the road to Climber’s Bivouac. We hit the road/trail at 7:45 AM and got to the real trailhead after about an hour, elevation 3900’. The next two miles were also on snow but we were in the trees and the shade they provided felt good. We then started the serious climb when we broke out above treeline at about 9:30. The tread was good for the most part but it was sunny and warm, so occasionally the steps kicked in would give out-it's like getting slugged in the stomach. We began seeing people who had summitted earlier skiing and snowboarding down. At lunch break the wind really picked up making it very cold and hard to even stand up. It was very difficult beyond this point, wondering if we would ever reach the summit. We just kept plodding away. We finally reached the summit (8365’) at 1:35 PM, enjoyed the vista and tried to stay out of the wind. We saw a *lot* of others there, the vast majority had climbed using the Worm Flows route. We took some pictures, ate, and left after about an hour at the summit. The trip down was a lot more fun as we were able to glissade. We made it back to the cars at about 5:00, tired as hell (17 miles, 5500’ elevation gained round trip) but glad we did it.

Ace, JanetP and I played hookey from WTA and climbed Mt. St. Helens via the Worm Flows route Saturday. After a night of sleeping on the ground under the brilliant stars and breathing the fragrant mountain air, we were on the trail at 6:30 AM. Mt. Hood totally withdrew after poking his head out to check on us early in the morning. Mounts Adams and Rainier were out, but socked in at their summits. Once you hit the snow slope, it’s hot, hot, hot and the climb is like being on a StairMaster for 3 hours. There are a lot of people on the trail, everyone going up single-file. The crowds were not as irritating as I thought they’d be. You are constantly passing and being passed by the same people over and over again, which results in exchanging quick pleasantries. I was impressed with the good etiquette and freindliness of the people on this trail (even the woman who almost killed 3 colorfully cocooned sleeping climbers with her car at our bivouac site was very nice). It took us a little over 5 hours to summit from the trailhead. I’m surprised the cornices haven’t given up and sacrificed hikers to the gods – hordes of people munched and crunched their lunches while sitting on cornices jutting out into the airspace above the volcano. Ace skied down the slope like a pro, while Janet and I did some pro butt glissading. Long, fast, smooth glissades, one after another, all the way down the slope. It was like being in a bobsled. The glissading went so fast, we were down the mountain and back to our camp in less than 3 hours. This includes dawdling. After a nice hamburger at Jacks, we were on our way home. Anyone in at least fair shape can climb Mt. St. Helens. It is a slog, though. Start early if it’s a warm day. If you forget sunscreen and sunglasses, forget about it and go home. Bring rainpants for glissading. Don't bring a ""busy"" lunch that requires assembly - it's too windy up there. Don't sit close to the crater if it’s snowy cornice. When you pull into a bivouac site at 4:30 in the morning, STOP when you get to a parking space. That nice grassy field you want to drive acorss is probably full of nice, sleepy people. Have fun. You know my motto: Safety First, Fun Second, Hamburger Third.

Couple of 40 year old guys did a ski and board descent from the rim using the worm flows route. This is what we know. Paved road to Marble Mt Sno park. There is large cabin/shelter at the sno park. Road to climbers' bivi is blocked by snow appro 4 miles below trail head, so go in from MArble Mt. Sno park. There is snow from the parking lot. The trail up to tree line #244' Swift Creek trail is not steep and you can stand on your skis with a huge pack on the way out and not fear falling. We left Seattle at 5 am Saturday, left the parking lot at 10 am got to camp at 4,000 feet after crossing Swift creek at about 12:30, good open camping here with views of the mountain. Creek was snow covered so no running water. We went up to about 5,500 ft after setting up camp but got off route into the swift creek drainage and skiied/ boarded back to camp. There were about 4 camps set up for the night. Left about 8 am sunday morning for the climb to the rim. The route is immediatly onto the rige to the left/west of swift creek with rocks on the ridge crest starting about 4,200 ft el. Stay on the ridge passing the monitoring station antena approx 6000 el, above the antena the ridge broadens out into a snow field and at about 6500- 7000 el rocks are visible again in a small bench area. Stay on the same bearing up steeper snow to about 7500 elv and when grade lessens, turn easterly about 30 degrees for the final few hundred feet to the rim. If visibility is poor the rim/cliff can sneek up on you. We stayed 30 feet back from the rim which we assumed was corniced . There were no ski/ board descents on Saturday but about 20 people were riding down on Sunday. The standard snow rider descent is to stay right/west of the ascent route. Snow conditions were good, about 8 to 10 inches of not to heavey new snow sitting on a consolidated base. Very little ice. No one was using climbing skins once onto the ridge, just kicking steps. Very little exposure but the advise to bring an ax is well taken. Ski descent to 4,000 camp took about 2 hours since my tele abilities evaporated. My boarder buddy had no problem and could have been back to camp in about 30 minutes. He did not have to unstrap from his board until was a few hundred yards from camp. We broke down camp and were back at the car approx 6 pm. Watch out for deer on the road back to JAck's to sign out, there were too many intent on jumping out onto the road. This is a great long day or overnight trip and great ski/board terrain. Remember, permits are limited after May 15, so get to it now.

I intended on starting from Climber's Bovouac but I read a report saying the road was still blocked by snow. So I bought a sno-park permit and headed for Marble Mtn. I hit the road about 4:30 Friday morning and started hiking at 8:00. The snow starts right out of the parking lot and is pretty well packed down along the trail below timberline. I opted to leave my snowshoes at the car, although most others had either shoes or skiis. After crossing Swift Creek I began to seriously question my decision making abilities when I started postholing pretty regularly. It was like walking in a two foot deep slushie. The fact that at 9:00 in the morning it was about 60 degrees wasn't helping any. Luckily as I moved onto the higher ridges the snow firmed up nicely and I made good time. Thank you to who ever put in the steps I followed. I took a break at U.W.'s siesmic sensor and noticed some clouds starting to build over Hood. These far off clouds quickly moved north and when I was about a thousand feet from the summit I turned around to see a cloud bank about to engulf the upper mountain. The clouds were pretty thin and being able to see over and under them as they rolled in was cool. As I neared the summit the wind picked up and when I finally reached the rim it was unbearable. All I managed to do on top was quickly throw on some clothes and following everyone else's lead make a hasty retreat. The summit stayed in clouds the rest of the day but the rest of the mountain basked in sunshine. The descent consisted of glissading up high and postholing down low. The trees were a welcome sight. Not only for the firm snow but also for the shade. It had become quite hot! I swear they make that trail about a mile longer on the way out. I got back to the car at 2:00. Be warned, on the drive out I saw two different county sherrifs using radar on the road between the sno-park and the spillway.