After leaving our wonderful spot in Boring, Sally and I stayed at a couple Snow Parks in order to visit Mount St. Helens. We stopped first on the south side of the mountain in order to hike Lava Canyon. After crossing 2 bridges -
Where we saw several waterfalls -
The trail continues down the canyon, sometimes on a scary ledge.
There are many more waterfalls, some hard to see without falling off the cliff.
Because there are so many big waterfalls, the trail descends rapidly. We went as far as this 40-foot ladder, then turned around.
It was a very steep hike back up to the car.
On the way back to our rigs, we went by a good view of the back side of Mount St. Helens.
Also on the south side of the mountain is Ape Canyon.
It's a mile long, and you can walk the whole thing, just make sure you have a good flashlight!
We then moved to the northeast side of the mountain, at a Snow Park near Iron Creek Falls.
From here we went up to Windy Ridge, overlooking Spirit Lake.
There are still lots of logs in the lake from the 1980 eruption.
The area is recovering nicely, though, with lots of wildflowers this time of the year.
Unfortunately, there were clouds around and it was difficult to see the mountain.
There were a bunch of elk over on the next hillside, and even some mountain goats farther beyond. Someone had set up a scope so we could see them.
Finally, when we were leaving, the clouds cleared up a bit.
And we finally got a view of the volcano.
As usual, great pics. Thanks for sharing! I'm driving fast to catch up!
ReplyDeleteWho would think you'd need a flashlight on a hike.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see Spirit Lake recovering. I saw the area fairly soon after the eruption and the lake seemed to be totally gone.
ReplyDeleteHow is it posible that these logs are still floating and haven't gone under? I was there in 1984 and everything looked very different.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to Mt St. Helens it was completely socked in with clouds. Typical luck for me when I go sight seeing. :c(
ReplyDeleteIt's so beautiful there I didn't hike to see the lake, but its amazing to me how much the area has recovered in such a short time. Love the FALLS!
ReplyDeleteI was on a train to Seattle the morning Mt. St. Helens blew. We stopped for 5 hours in Kelso because Amtrak was worried the river would wash away the bridge. Everything was covered in ash and we could easily see the eruption from 30 miles away. Quite a sight and more than a little scary.
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