Mount St. Helens - Monitor Ridge — Thursday, Mar. 22, 2001

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

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.