Hiking Mt. St. Helens

Hey All,

I am looking to hike Mt. St. Helens this Sunday.
I see that the Climbers Bivouac is closed, and the forest service is recommending that those attempting the peak use the marble mountain route/ Worm Flows route.
Has anyone climbed the route recently?
I'm trying to get a feel for the current conditions, and if I'd be able to hike the trail to the summit, or if I'll need crampons, axes, etc.

Thanks!

check over at cc

there are some recent trip reports on wormflows, including hilarious mothers' day pics

Thanks for the info! Those pictures were great!

The weather for sunday looks good now, and if it holds I am going to head up. If anyone wants to join, I'll be leaving from Vancouver in the morning.
Probably going to lug my snowboard up and ride down.

Andy

Skiied MSH last Sat. Rd. to Climbers Bivy was gated and closed, use Marble Mtn sno-park, road is snow free and OK for cars to sno-park. RT is 14 miles, and 5500' gain to crater rim. Snow starts about 1 mile from the sno-park and is continous to crater rim. We left the parking lot at 6AM, snow was hard, softened @ noon, on the rim by 11:20. We were on skis, some of us with ski crampons skinned the whole way, I booted w/crampons between 5 & 7K then skinned, other were just hoofin' it. I would definitely bring crampons if you have them, ice axe reccomended. You may want pack snowshoes instead of crampons, if you have shoes with traction bars; they'll give you traction and keep you from postholing if things get soft. Leave early, we set off a small slough near tree line about 12:30PM. Trail is very well marked/packed.

Buy your permit at least 24 hrs. in advance; then call Lone Fir resort and have them put it in the box so you can get it before they open @ 6AM.

Have fun. Link to our TR.
tetongravity.com/forums/sho…

Had a great trip this morning! Thanks for all of the beta and resources, much appreciated.
Left the car at 710, and made it back by 1230. Didnt run into the best weather possible, but I summited nonetheless.
Looking forward to doing it again soon!