Camped at Climber's Bivouac at headed up the Ptarmigan Ridge Trail at 7:30am. Connected to the Monitor Ridge Trail and made the crater rim at 11:45am. Great views all around; Mt. Ranier, Mt. Adams, Goat Rocks, Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson. 2 hours to get down. One of the best climbs around. Bring water and layered clothing. The sun was hot but the wind at the summit was pretty cold. 4.5 miles each way. Altitude gain: 4,600 ft.

We took the Monitor Ridge route from Climbers Bivouac to the summit. There were lots of people on the trail and camping at the trailhead. We managed to find a small, short spur road just before the last turn in the road and camped at the end of it. It was a great little site far enough away from others that we could crank up the music and make a lot of noise without bothering anybody. The trail/route was snow covered until a little beyond the timberline at around 5,000 ft. but safe enough for my grandma to do it. From there it was a rock scramble up the ridge ending in a steep ash slope 1,000 ft. from the summit. The ash slope is the most difficult; similar to hiking up sand. The only hazardous part of the climb was a small (200 ft. long) but steep snowfield near the timberline. There didn't appear to be any way around it. I tried glissading on the way down and slid uncontrollably into a pile of rocks, fortunately escaping injury. Be very careful on that slope! You can do the hike without any gear at all beyond a good pair of somewhat-waterproof hiking boots. With ice ax and crampons, however, the hike would likely be a really nice, easy trot up the snowfield to the West of the ridge. I had trekking poles which I would highly recommend for the way down, although no one else in my group had them and didn't have trouble. There was a well-worn glissade path on the West side of the ridge going from near the timberline to about 1,000 ft. from the summit. The weather was absolutely as bad is it could be, with drizzle, constant thick fog, and near gale force from 6,500 ft. to the summit and back. Our only view was a brief section at around 6,500 ft. when we got an awesome panorama above a thick fluffy blanket of clouds broken only by Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams. From there, for a few moments, we could actually see a group of people standing on the summit. But alas when we got to the top the cloud cover had returned. One member of our group with a particularly active imagination claimed to be able to visualize the mind-numbing view of Mt. Rainier and the cascades. But the rest of us could only gaze into the abyss of white fog and wonder what the view would be like on a clear day. We all had a great time though. Although I've done quite a few summit hikes in the Sierras, Mount St. Helens seemed ""bigger"" then the others; more like what you'd think climbing a mountain would be like if you've never done one. The fog, all the snow, and the volanic landscape made it easy to imagine that we were much higher than we really were. The rock scrambling and glissading made it challenging enough that I never got bored.

We picked up permits at Jack's store, where we found out road 830 to the climbers biouvac was opened the day before. If you think snow is a problem in the north cascades, you might check out the 2800' south slope snowline down here. There is room for a few cars at the trailhead. We were quickly informed of a ""situation"" by a climbing ranger. Tom had become seperated from his group and was now four hours overdue. The Skamania county sheriff made us promise to accompany him down if we found him. While blowing whistles was fun, we did not see anyone. We arrived at treeline (4800') and set up our camp. We called the sheriff at 9 PM (as requested) and were informed that Tom had found his way out, unharmed. On with the high adventure. Being the view hogs that we are, we set out at 3:30 AM after a solid two hours of sleep. It seemed like we had the whole mountain to ourselves! Alternating between fog and a moonlit mountain, we kicked steps until we could gain the ridge. Sometimes on rock, sometimes on snow, it was a fabulous climb. Due to low overnight temperatures, the upper slopes were very icy. Crampons would have been needed if not for two sets of frozen steps from another day. Watching the sunrise, while all the other volacanos towered over fog filled valleys was a sight I will not soon forget. Although it seemed to take longer, we summited at 7:00 AM. The lava dome was steaming, while avalanches went off in the crater. What an unbelievably perfect climb! After 45 minutes on top, we grudgingly started back down. This just gets me that much more excited for our next volcano climb!!! Woo-hoo! Here are the statistics: One and a half hours to high camp, three and a half hours to the top, an hour and fifteen minutes down to camp, two hours of sleep, and only 26 hours away from our wives in Seattle. Final note: I believe anyone in reasonable shape, with the proper training or guide, can do this climb.

It was cloudy at the trail head, but about 4000 ft. level we climbed into the sunshine. There is still snow on most of the trail, but it is well traveled and well marked. The snow conitions are great for climbing,you did not need crampons, but ski poles or ice axe was usefull,there were high wind gust of around 50 mph at the 5000 ft to 7500 ft level, then the winds were just a breeze above that to the summit. The view from the top was fantastic, Mt. Rainier, MT Adams and Mt . Hood were out in all there slendor. The glissades down were a blast. Great Trip :)

The climb to the summit of Mt. St. Helens was excellant. Sunny Skies around the mountain with views of Mt. Rainier, Mt Adams and Mt. Hood. There is still snow on the trail from the trail head all the way to the summit, with patches of dirt up to the 4500 foot level. The snow conditions arew great, firm,with no postholing and we did not need crampons. Though a ice axe or ski poles helped because of high wind gust from the 5500 ft level to about 7300 ft level. Great climb Rob