Mount. St. Helens Trip Report: 5/12/2023

Mount St. Helens Worm Flows (Swift Glacier) Route: May 12, 2023

When we pulled up to Marble Mountain, we were stunned to see how many cars there were packed into the Sno Park. Cars were also lining the road for about a half mile beyond the overflow lot. I typically go mid-week and have my pick of a spot, but I suppose the Friday before Mother's Day with great weather is a different story. Wild to see. BYO hand sanitizer for the pit toilet (and toilet paper; they restocked mid-day).

We started hiking at 7:45 a.m. My climbing partner and I never feel the need for an alpine start when without skis-- just a preference! Seemed like not many people left after us, which makes sense, since I'd wager over half the folks on the mountain that day were skiers.

Trail was entirely snow-covered from the very start at the trailhead. Easygoing couple of miles to Chocolate Falls, with soft but tractioned snow. From where the view opens there, we could already see a ton of climbers ahead. Permits sold out that day, but because of our later timing, we never felt crowded.

What much of the forested miles look like.

Emerging around Chocolate Falls

Just after reaching above treeline, we had several options to ascend ahead. One was to go straight through the middle of the gully (which it looked like most people chose). Another was to walk on climber's left of the rock ridge that was left of the gully. Third option was to go straight on the rocks. We hate volcanic rock-hopping and find that it's good practice to not walk in gullies, so we went to the left of the rock pile.

Checking out our three options. Crossing the rocks was awkward for everyone; we watched a couple people stumble due to the snow covering holes.

From there, the usual cardio upward! The snow was very slushy and soft. Breaking our own trail was a nice way to add a bit more of a workout (I’m one of those weirdos) when there wasn't a boot pack right next to us. It was quite warm, and I was comfortable in leggings and a sun hoodie with the hood pulled over my cap. Crystal clear skies gave us lovely views of Jefferson and Hood (and of course, Adams eventually).

We didn't need crampons at any point, but decided to use them for a bit of extra traction in the final big push up the snowfield.

If you ski, it seemed like corn o’clock was 10-11am ish.

View of the upper mountain

We saw a few wet snow slides throughout the day, on the snowfield adjacent to ours on climber's left. One of them lasted for several long minutes. Although they were shallow, the noise was still hauntingly pretty to listen to and the amount of movement was humbling.

Side note: On our descent, we saw another wet slide in the same area, but this time it was triggered by a skier who got caught in it. He slid down with the snow for a couple dozen yards or so before he was eventually able to stand up and ski out of it. The others in the party traversed above the slide before coming down.

Note the skier sitting as the slide carried him slowly downward.

A handful of skiers descended on that side west of the direct climbing route as shown on most maps, while it seemed most folks that day opted for the snowfield on the east side.

East side skiers dotting the snow; most opted for this side

The west side ski option (closer toward Monitor Ridge); still a considerable amount of skiers

Anyway, I didn't ski. So...

The Stairmaster

We reached the summit after a relaxed 5 and 1/2 hours after leaving the car. The cornice is gnarly right now, so everybody was very far back which was good to see. We could see Rainier in all hear glory but couldn't see into the crater at all, due to the cornice overhang. So after admiring it, we retreated down a few yards to have our summit snacks.

The usual summit shenanigans!

Hey, Rainier!

After the usual fun photos, we were able to immediately glissade from the summit, with nearly consistent glissading straight from summit to 4,400 feet! Such a blast!

We did see a few glissaders with crampons on and tried to explain why they shouldn't do that, but it got a bit awkward. In the future, I might offer feedback as a question, like, "Hey, want a safety tip?" to see if they even want to engage.

Primo glissade chutes

Thousands of feet of this!

A smaller wet slide

Once we got to tree line (sigh), we started to walk. With how wet the snow was by mid-afternoon, I wished I'd kept my gaiters on.

We decided to take the glissade chute through the gully, which we did not ascend in. We were looker’s left of the rock ridge on our ascent.

There was one final mini glissade chute just above Chocolate Falls, plus a couple easy walking options. I did see one set of sketchy lines just above the waterfall.

I glissaded that little chute, while Katie and Hannah walked.

Lovely falls

And then, through the woods back to the car. Total time down was about 2h15. The parking lot was mostly empty upon return.

As for wildlife... In the final forest mile back to the car, we got to hear a bard owl call for 5 minutes straight! And that morning, driving in from the Carson side, we saw some elk and a good amount of deer.

TL;DR: Warm, calm whether all day with barely any wind. Watch for wet slides. Enjoy glissading without crampons, or mindfully choose your ski line. Have fun.

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