Mount St. Helens: Worm Flows

The 1908 eruption of Mount St. Helens blew 1,314 feet off of the mountain's summit and created a massive crater over the 230-square-mile devastated blast zone to the north. From the Marble Mountain Sno-Park, climbers seeking the picturesque view from the snow-capped crater rim begin their journey up to the volcanic worm flows. As climbers emerge out of treeline the landscape transforms into snow-covered, scarred slopes of eroding rock formed by lahars, or volcanic mudflows, from the 1980 eruption. From the west ridge flanking Swift Creek, Mount Adams dominates the view to the east with Mount Hood to the south. The route becomes steep as climbers navigate the terrain up to Swift Glacier to merge with the mountain's summer route, Monitor Ridge. 

Climbers with an alpine start in the dark are rewarded with an impressive display of color as the mountain is washed in alpenglow by the rising sun.  The warmth of the sun's rays motivates the coldest of climbers to push up the wind-blown, icy slope to the summit. Reaching the crater's rim, climbers are rewarded with breathtaking views of the crater framing Spirit Lake and Mount Margaret Backcountry below with Mount Rainier dominating the horizon to the north.

Mount St. Helens is one of the most accessible glaciated peaks in the Cascade Mountain Range, and the summit welcomes over 14,000 climbers on an annual basis. It is imperative to practice low-impact and Leave No Trace as you travel here so future generations may also experience the spirit of this active stratovolcano. Cornices are common around the crater rim, so please be sure to stay back from the edge as the unstable lip can beak away without notice. As always when scaling mountains, be sure to liberally apply sunscreen to battle the intense sun and watch for storms that roll in quickly on unsuspecting climbers.