"So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life."
--Peter Gibbons (Office Space)
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mradventure - Mar 15, 2004 2:59 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: March 10, 2004A winter cloudless day with a spring-feel and firm snow until the sun softened it just before noon. This was my first solo trip in the winter and was well worth it even though I didn't ski down. Hamstrings cramped an hour down from the summit but rest, stretching, and food helped to subside the painful cramps. Snowshoed all the way up using MSR Denali Evo Ascent (highly recommend), and as the snow became quite soft the shoes were useful on the descent also. Cornices were very evident. Even though I was about 40 ft. back from the rim, I heard it cracking. Not a comforting sound. Be aware! Stay far away from the summit cornice, especially when the sun is shining.
esugi - Mar 7, 2004 12:13 am
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge / Worm Flows Date Climbed: September 2000 and March 2002First climbed St. Helens via Monitor Ridge in September 2000. Easy hike starting from the parking lot. We had a whiteout near the crater which made things interesting.
Second climb via Worm Flows route. It was early spring (March 2002) so I took my snowboard up and had 4000 ft. descent on descent snow. This was fun. I highly recommend it.
flybigsky - Mar 4, 2004 3:44 pm
Route Climbed: standard Date Climbed: summer 1998Hot and dusty but excellent clear view from the summit. Wish we could of climbed before the eruption.
derbilly - Feb 24, 2004 5:07 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor ridge variation Date Climbed: Spring 1997We had come to the mountain without crampons or ice axes to find the ridge route covered with a thick layer of ice. Undeterred, we dropped into a snow gully, climbed up with some traversing and were the only ones to make it that day.
jbbang - Feb 23, 2004 6:03 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: Feb 21 2004Our rag tag group of Willamette law students made it to the top on a windy but great day. The snow was pretty soft on the way down and required snowshoes. We camped at the treeline and had a great time. We now move on to Adams. My homemade pulk worked great except when the trail was too steep.
Zarn - Feb 17, 2004 3:28 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge, Variation Date Climbed: July 23, 2002Instead of sloging w/ the masses over the boulder field we scrambled fthe snow fields to the left & right when ever possible. Much easier on the knees, less body dodging and the best solution for my brother's first ever summit attempt. He was totally committed to his first climb. Diet program to shed 115 lbs. and & training for nine months had its rewards in a succesfull summit bid. Could not have asked for a better weather day even w/ the herd of people also on the attempt.
Z1
Zarn - Feb 17, 2004 3:17 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: Sept. 27, 1997Hot, dusty good to get up & get out.
Jeff H - Feb 13, 2004 6:15 pm
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: February 8th, 2004Packed skis up to the summit on an unusually warm, somewhat clear day. More people climbing than I would have expected. Very little wind on top and after pictures taken, skied all the way down to the parking lot. Would definately been easier if I owned skins but convinced myself it was great exercise.
farkenclimbin - Feb 10, 2004 8:43 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: May of 2003Had a great time on this mountain. Everyone should do this one!
IceAxe18 - Jan 16, 2004 5:12 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: October 12, 2003Bad Weather, didn't summit.
IceAxe18 - Jan 16, 2004 4:27 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: June 1, 2003My brother & I was climbing & we got to 5,000ft & I loss my footing in the snow & fell down & slid down a ways right over a rock & up against the ledge of the hole & dislocated my shoulder. I didn't have an ice axe, so I couldn't self arrest. I wish I had one though. Hopefully I'll take my brother up sometime. He would like to do it again even though we didn't make it to the summit.
IceAxe18 - Jan 16, 2004 1:16 am
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: May 18, 2003My Best Friend & I made the Summit. We really had a great time going up & coming back down.
chickenhawk34 - Dec 21, 2003 12:07 am
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: 09-15-03R. Rice, Myself, and J. Macsurak, fresh off of
Adams - Great "cool down", but we were definitely
ragged when finished.
Note: we climbed it because My friend Jim wanted to climb a "brand-name" mountain!
waspee - Dec 11, 2003 5:33 am
Route Climbed: From June Lake then ridge up to top Date Climbed: 23 August 2003It was a beautiful day, but no one had thought about how much we added by going from June lake! On top of that we had to ferry cars back and forth, plus one wrong turn along the way, made that we didn't reach the summit until 16H15. Thank god going down was quick and easy, it only took me about 2H30. Was back down before dark.
A great day and unforgetable experience.
jasonconnell - Sep 26, 2003 3:39 am
Route Climbed: Worm Flows Date Climbed: Feb 8th 2003My brothers first Volcano
Perfect summer type wether in February.
Jeff H - Sep 21, 2003 11:39 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: September 19th, 2003Second time I have climbed this route. Actually had the summit all to myself for almost half an hour at 10:30am. Bringing my skis next spring.
K Williams - Sep 15, 2003 12:41 am
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: 8-24-03Truly amazing to think and see the explosive power of this Mountain making the climb through the boulders worthed. Shared the summit with a handful of people, saw and heard several rock slides into the crater. There seemed to be a small vent near the dome venting steam and could see Spirit lake in the distance as well as the near by mountains.
annaleiserabinek - Sep 3, 2003 1:50 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: August 25, 2003I love a good rock scramble, much more than a slow trudge up scree and ash. Lucky for me I got the best of both worlds on St. Helens. When leaving Climbers Bivouac in the morning listen to the birds sing all the way to timberline. The rock scramble was tedious, but a blast. It seems to go much faster than the last 1000+' of two-steps-forward-one-back scree/ash sludge to the summit. The views into the crater are spectacular! Crazy! My climbing partner Cornvallis hiked a little way to the west down some scree, caused a rock fall, and up another ridge to reach the true summit....while the rest of us 99 hikers stayed on what everyone else thinks is the summit. The west side of Monitor Ridge has a very nice descent trail (there is no need to scramble over all those rocks again). The view of Rainier can't be beat from here. Wear sunscreen and a hat.
On a side note: We had time to kill to avoid rush hour traffic in Portland so we hiked through Lava Canyon. Besides its nice to take an easy walk and let your leg muscles cool down before getting right into the car. Its beautiful. Take the time to see it. It has a fun, very safe, suspension bridge. Its a quick 1.4 mile loop, cool and in the shade. Amazing powerful waterfalls.
donstr - Sep 2, 2003 6:38 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: August 29, 2003I did it! So did my wife and 11 year old son. 4.6 miles each way, 4,500 feet of elevation gain. There are three sections to the hike. 1) 2 miles through a forested area to the end of the timberline. Only 1,000 feet of elevation gain. (From Elevation 3,800 to 4,800) A walk in the park. But then: 2) Scrambling and miandering through rocks for the next 2+ miles. This is the real struggle of the hike. Keep as close to the posts as possible. The beautiful views of the surrounding nmountains, Hood and Adams begin to unfold as you hike through a rather barren moonscape of rock, pumice and ash. Then; 3) A steady slow hike through ash to the summit, starting at elevation 7,000 to the rim of the crater at 8,300 feet. Then you can look down right into the crater. You can't capture what you see in a picture, only a snapshot in your head will do. It is surreal.
Advice: Make sure you leave before 7 AM in the morning (not 9, like us). Bring 3 quarts of water per person minimum (not 2 as it says on the web site). I would also advise staying in a motel or bed and breakfast, you're going to feel dirtier (from the ever present ash) than you've ever felt before. You'll want nothing more than a nice shower after you're all done.
Cornvallis - Aug 27, 2003 4:48 pm
Route Climbed: Monitor Ridge Date Climbed: August 25, 2003Pulled into Climbers Bivouac at dusk. Exhausted from the day’s climb of Mt. Adams we decided to crash in the back of my truck. Much better night of sleep than the prior night spent at the Lunch Counter on Adams. Crawled out of the truck in the twilight to enjoy the sunrise, much to the dismay of a sleepy annalieserabineck ;-) Started off around 6:30 AM under clear blue sky. Enjoyed the rocky scramble up monitor ridge until we hit the upper "beach" slog to the crater rim. Had amazing views from the crater rim as far as the Olympics and Mt. Baker. Traversed along the crater rim to find the true summit. Enjoyed nearly 2 hours on the rim on a clear warm day with relatively few climbers (only 58 on the register for the day). The trip back down to timberline was fast and fun through soft ash and scree. 12,000 feet gained over 3 days, good times!