Mount St. Helens/Monitor Ridge

Trip date Sept. 27, 2015. Beautiful weather, clear blue sky w/slight chilly breezes along the route. Cold air, but hardly any wind on the summit. A perfect day to be up there. No snow on the route or the summit rim. The route is marked with posts, but many boots paths wander off it, making a bit of route finding through the boulders. Had a good look at the sad remains of the Swift Glacier, quite thin and sunken but many large crevasses. Everyone had a fun, memorable experience. This trip is a long drive, especially from Seattle/Tacoma and points north. But it's very much worth the experience of looking down into the crater at the still steaming lava dome, multi-colored crater walls, and the only "growing" glacier left (according to a Mt St Helens Institute volunteer).