[One Day Wonder]

Being new into the sport I am trying to get as much knowledge and experience as I can in the little amount of time possible. However a group of us a tried to fill up our weekends with some one day adventures. Hence, the ONE_DAY_WONDER. We always are talking about what the future holds for us, and what type of trips that we see ourselves taking this coming summer (Summer 2003). One of the trips that came into conversation was Mount St. Helens. What can anyway tell me about this hike, or is there a website that I could go to that would help me. Websites are ok, but I would like to here first hand from someone if they have experienced the peak itself. Thanks

[Sore Feet]

As summiting goes, it's pretty easy. Abou 4 1/2 miles to the top (via Monitor Ridge), I think the gain is about 3800 feet, most of that in the last 2 1/2 +/- miles. I did it when I was about 10 and smoked my Dad to the summit (probably all the sugar I'd been drinking). No technical climbin involved, hell, the trail is a regular highway on nice days. Permits required. Check with the Forest Service for more. http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/

[C Dog]

I absolutely loved this one, ODW. Did it with a group of 10 (the maximum party size, I believe), we made our reservations in early February for a weekend in August a couple of years ago. (See http://www.washingtonhikes.com/2001/msh/) Here's the Forest Service's MSH Climbing Info page: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/climbing/ The best piece of advice I can give you is this: If you end up eating dinner in Woodland the night before, avoid the Mexican place. Made the ascent more challenging than it should have been.

[scot'teryx]

One day is the only way to go on this long hike via the wormflows route Here are some links for some TR's http://www.nwog.org/reports/040702helens.htm http://www.nwog.org/reports/052401helens.htm

[Quark]

On Mother's Day, you'll see plenty of folks - both male and female - hiking up St. Helens in dresses. And for godsakes, don't get too near the edge of the snow at the top - it's a cornice. There's a pretty damn deep hole at the top o' St. Helens, you know. When I was there, there was almost a hundred people hovering on that thing tryin' to get a look at the dome and crater. Sure, it'd be something to write home about and all, if the cornice gave way - but I'm thinkin' it's maybe not so good a thing to happen, you know, on an over-all basis. On the way down, sit on your butt & glissade if conditions are right. It's the best glissading I ever did. It was worth the ice burn on my calves (my legs, not my baby cows).