A few inches of snow were on the ground from the beginning, but, some folks had already broken and packed down a track with snowshoes on a prior day. With the cool temperature and packed track, we were able to go snowshoe free for a good while, and then we peeled away from the track and just walked the ridge. The ridge itself had less snow due to wind having blown much of it away.
We put our snowshoes on shortly after the saddle where the South Coldwater trail meets the Coldwater Peak Trail (though we obviously weren't on any trail). The snow had been shaped and shifted all over, and the depth varied. Up until we reached the next saddle, the top layer of snow was still pretty fresh and dry, yet definitely hardened by cool temperatures. Some areas of snow were iced over. We walked mostly on top of the snow with our snowshoes, with just a bit of sinking in every now and then.
Once gaining the next saddle, we traversed the southern exposed slope, which was all corn snow and quite slick. We should have picked a lower line, but made it across, with only a couple of slips. In short time, we hit the saddle overlooking the lake, which was covered in snow. I believe it was near 1 pm at that point. We thought about dropping down the valley, continuing over to Harry's saddle and beyond to make a loop. However, given the time and the probability that we'd just bail to the road instead of going to Johnston ridge, we decided to return the way we came and enjoy the setting sun in that direction instead of having a road walk.
I suppose that I should I also mention that as you come off of South Coldwater Ridge and continue on to St Helens Lake, you do walk below some potential avalanche terrain /terrain traps, so being knowledgeable about winter snow travel and its risks is a good idea if you decide to visit this place in the winter.
Some photos of the day:
Opening shot: St Helens Lake!
The lake was all covered by snow. It was great to see the peaks in the Mt Margaret backcountry, looking as beautiful as ever.
Starting out and looking up toward our route in the distance. All of the snow had melted from the road upon our return.
Our first wide open view of Mt St Helens. 
Some of the wind sculpted snow we encountered. It was almost sad to break trail through some of this untouched natural art.
More scultping.
A closer look at the next piece of our route. The highest point is that saddle to the right of the triangular peak.
The view from our high point saddle. We had a short traverse of sidehilling to our final destination for the day.
A mostly ok 4 photo stitch panorama of our destination. 
Zoomed in on Mt. Adams from the saddle above the lake.
Zoomed in on Mt. Hood in the distance on our return. 
Returning off of the high point saddle. 
Another look at Mt. St. Helens as the lighting changed during our return.
As we again gained South Coldwater Ridge 
Zoomed in to see the frosted stumps on the mountain top. 
Zoomed in on the crater and steam emanating from the dome. 
Alpenglow on Mt. St Helens during the road walk back to the car. 
The sunset color was so bright and red as we were driving out! We just had to pull over and jump out of the car for a quick photo. A great ending to a fun day.
