Mount Saint Helens has been on my list of hikes to do for awhile, especially as I start pushing for higher elevation, more technical summits. Madolyn found some permits on Purmit.com for a weekday summit, so off we went!
We camped at the trailhead and started our push at 4:30am. We passed and broke through foggy forests right around sunrise, catching Mount Hood off in the distance to the south.
After putting on our microspikes and taking out our ice axes, we pushed up for the top of Mount Saint Helens, reaching the summit around 9:20am.
We were the first ones to summit that day, but were followed pretty soon after by Caroline and Amanda. These two had started at 1am but unfortunately got lost on the way up and had to backtrack before summiting.
After spending some time at the summit taking in the views of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, Mount Hood, and some other peaks to the south in Oregon, we layered up for our glissade descent.
~4000 feet of glissading later and a hike out, we were off Mount Saint Helens and headed home. One of the most memorable summits I've done yet.