May 22, 2009, Mt St Helens

Mt St Helens was phenomenal on Fri.
Snow all the way to the parking lot, but it wasn't guaranteed continuous, so we bootpacked to the treeline.
If you're headed up this weekend I'd advise: GO EARLY OR GO FAST. I was off the summit by noon and that was a little too late for my taste. I would recommend being off the summit by 11, but there were many peoplr still headed up well after noon. I don't know if they weren't worried about wetslides or just love boot deep slush....
The snow was slushy but nice until about when all the terrain traps start. Then it was about ankle deep slush. I set off a small point release slide on a steeper  east facing slope. It ran slowly about 50m before coming to a rest in the gully floor. I wouldn't have wanted to see what it would have done with a few more inches of slush.
There was some freezing overnight, but by 7am everything was soft. I wish we had brought snowshoes instead of crampons!
Anyway, it's awesome up there - go get it! (but I'd aim for being off the top by 11ish)