Hike Log
Moon St. Helens
Trailhead
Climbers’ Bivouac
Type of hike
Day hike
Trail conditions
Trail in good condition
Road
Road suitable for all vehicles
Bugs
Bugs were not too bad
Snow
Intermittent snow - not hard to cross
Also on this hike
This hike surprised me. It was wild, lunar and otherworldly.
Sulfur rising.
Rocks falling.
Glaciers melting.
Wind whispering.
Ash flying.
– The initial 2-mile section of meadows was a full rainbow of wildflowers.
– The middle 2-3 mile section of rocky scramble and dusty trail was challenging in its steep ascent and uneven footing.
– The last 1-2 miles was straight up ash and scree. Tough to keep a good pace at the last push, but the views at the top – WOW, it’s like a moonscape meets winterscape.
Total mileage we clocked = 12. This could be because it’s not really a straight shot to the top, lots of zig-zagging on the trail, over boulders, especially if you go to the True Summit, a half-mile from where you reach the crater rim.
I don’t know what it is about this hike, but it’s easily in my top 3 hikes *ever*. How often do you get to walk the rim of a volcano that erupted a few decades ago? The views of Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier aren’t bad too. 🙂
Way to go, Kristin! Great photos, too. Looks like you had beautiful weather for this hike.
What time did you start and finish?
The weather was perfect, just a little windy at the top. We started at sunrise (6:07am), summited the true summit at 10:35am, spent 40 minutes at the top, then finished at 2:22pm. Overall time = 8 hours, 15 minutes.