Trip Report
Winter overnight - Mount St Helens
Weekend of camping and exploring on the south slopes of Mount St Helens.
Colin Chapman
- Sat, Mar 8, 2025 — Sun, Mar 9, 2025
- Basic Snowshoe - Chocolate Falls
- Mount St. Helens/Worm Flows
- Snowshoeing
- Successful
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- Road suitable for all vehicles
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Bare ground for first mile of trail out of the Marble Mountain Sno-Park, heading towards the Worm Flows route.
Our group of winter campers -- including 2 recent grads of the Winter Camping course -- left Marble Mountain Sno-Park with snowshoes strapped to our packs, as the trail was bare ground for the first mile or so. We eventually donned snowshoes or microspikes and made our way up to and above Chocolate Falls.
We then set up camp west of the Worm Flows route, trying to shelter ourselves from the forecast wind by cozying up alongside a small ridge...or by building a wall.
We then headed out for a short excursion...
...before returning to camp for views of Mt Hood...
...and MSH...
Then it was dinner time! As always, our communal kitchen (where we work together to melt snow, boil water, and share stories) was one of the trip highlights.
The next morning, it was time to explore. The weather definitely cooperated!
We agreed that the volcanic rock all around us was really cool.
Even the tiny ones!
But of course we also loved the ascents, descents, and route-finding that is an integral part of wintertime exploring.
All in all, a great weekend in the snowy backcountry!
