A prolonged winter and colder than average spring might be getting some northwest residents down, but someone at Mt. St. Helens has kept their sense of humor.

USFS

The web cam overlooking Mt. St. Helens shows a 'gnome' with a humorous message: "No headway on the snow but could use some hot chocolate."

A gnome appeared on the Mt. St. Helens Web camera holding a sign on Tuesday. The sign changed a few times and then... as suddenly and mysteriously as he had appeared, the note-writing gnome vanished.

Gnome apparently upset over heavy snow

The first sign that was noticed by many Web surfers on Tuesday said "I will get the snow."

Then, early Wednesday, a new message appeared: "No headway on the snow but could use some hot chocolate."

A while later, a styrofoam cup labeled "hot chocolate" appeared next to the gnome, along with an American flag. He seemed content for the moment.

But then, another peek at the Web cam around noon revealed the gnome was gone and all that remained was a small mound of snow.

Had he given up his plight? Was he gnome-napped? Buried under a snowball?

View Live Cam: Mt. St. Helens volcanocam

Read VolcanoCam blog

The blog that accompanies the volcanocam said the U.S. Forest Service had done done some investigative work and learned that the gnome had hitched a ride with a Forest Service maintenance crew working to prepare the Johnston Ridge Observatory for its spring reopening.

It said that the gnome, along with the work crew, was struggling to clear more than 25 feet of snow from the road and the work was "difficult, dangerous, and arduous." This shed some light on the gnome's mysterious snow-hating messages.

As for the whereabouts of the little guy, the volcanocam blogger said he had reason to believe he "phoned home" and left.

"In any event all we can offer are pristine images from Mount St. Helens in all their glorious shades of gray, even with color cameras. The heavy clouds and snowdrifts have truly made this the Winter of our discontent(ment)," the blogger wrote. "We thank the VolcanoCam gnome for a bright spot and hope it's a sign that Spring is just around the corner."

Gnome was perched around 4,500 feet

The observatory and the Web camera are located about five miles away from the volcano at an elevation of about 4,500 feet, looking across the North Fork Toutle River Valley. The volcanocam image updates about every five minutes.

USFS

A gnome with a snowy message, on the Mt. St. Helens web camera.

The camera, operated by the U.S. Forest Service, provides still images of the view from Johnson Ridge Observatory at Mt. St. Helens.

At any rate, the unseasonably heavy snowfall has beset the Northwest this spring, and apparently humans aren't the only ones tired of winter.

Mt. St. Helens in the News:

Snowmobiler survives fall into St. Helens crater

Time lapse: Mt. St. Helens dome-building

Multimedia: 1980 Eruption