Greg and I have done VERY little hiking around Mt. St. Helens, but after seeing some tantalizing wildflower reports from that area we decided to head up there last weekend. We got up early but still didn’t manage to hit the trail until 9am. There were very few people around, though, so I guess we were still earlier than most.
From Johnston Ridge Observatory (which wasn’t open yet), we headed out on the Boundary Trail, but not before taking a few photos of the mountain herself. The view here is SO close. It’s kind of hard to imagine now that they thought it was safe to have a scientist on this ridge in May 1980.
There were paintbrush EVERYWHERE:
There were lots of other flowers too:
Saw this cool-looking mushroom. It was the only one and it’s not one I’ve ever seen before.
Hungry ground squirrel stuffing its face:
I bet a lot of people get freaked out by this section of trail. It’s a bit of a drop-off:
See tiny Greg?
Harry’s Ridge, dead ahead:
Last push, we’re almost to the top!
The view from the top was fantastic!
Mt. Adams:
Spirit Lake:
Mt. Hood:
And of course Mt. St. Helens:
Looking back the way we came at the observatory:
A panorama looking north and northwest with Coldwater Peak on the left:
We hung out at the summit for awhile enjoying the sunshine and the views. People started arriving in droves, and once we started hiking out we encountered still more people hiking in. As we got closer to the observatory we started encountering many many people. Ugh.
This hike has NO shade and I still got some color on my arms despite using sunscreen and re-applying halfway through the hike. I don’t usually put sunscreen on my face because I wear a hat, but the light-colored sand/pumice reflected the sun up onto my face and I got a bit of color on my cheeks.
Before heading home Greg and I stopped in at the center and watched the film they play there, which paints an incredibly rosy picture of post-eruption Mt. St. Helens. It was very well-done, but the tone was “you think you see destruction but no wait, look, there’s life all over, just pay attention and you’ll see it.”
