Beyond Coldwater

I love hiking the bare plains north of Mt St Helens.  The post-eruption landscape is fascinating.  It's so interesting to witness life returning to the devastated areas around this famous volcano.  Long-time readers know that one of my favorite summer hikes is the trek to Coldwater Peak via the Boundary Trail.

Foggy morning on the Boundary Trail

However, the Boundary Trail continues past Coldwater Peak into the wild, desolate Mt Margaret Backcountry.  Having never ventured beyond the Coldwater Peak turnoff, this year I decided it was time to explore further.  So on a mid-July Friday, I hatched a plan to hike past Coldwater Peak and St Helens Lake to see what was there.  Since it would be a long distance, I arrived early at Johnston Ridge Observatory and was on the trail before 8 am.

Paintbrush was poppin'

Weather at MSH is always unpredictable, and today was no different.  Upon arrival at Johnston Ridge, I found the area enveloped in a thick fog.  As I started out on the Boundary Trail, the clouds would clear momentarily, giving quick glimpses of the adjacent slopes, before swirling back and covering everything.  At least the summer wildflower bloom was still going strong, and the thousands of bright orange Indian Paintbrush gave me something nice to look at.

Best view of Mt St Helens all day

About a mile on the trail and the clouds suddenly parted to reveal a full view of Mt St Helens in all her barren glory.  Out came the camera, and I snapped away.  Little did I know at the time, but that would be the best view I'd have of the mountain for the entire day.

Lots of orange!

The fog quickly returned, and I packed my camera away and focused on covering some distance.  Up over Devil's Elbow Ridge, through the lower valley, with another climb to the base of Harry's Ridge.  I was happy to see the valley in between recovering nicely, filled with large brush and wildflowers.  Every year I notice the trees in this area are taller - there's now some places where they actually provide shade.

Looking towards Spirit Lake

Just below Harry's Ridge the plains were covered in a purple mass of lupine.  Oh it was lovely!  It smelled lovely too.

Lupine explosion

The saddle below Harry's Ridge offers some fantastic views of Spirit Lake.  I took a quick snack break and admired it's unique log-filled waters (amazing that the logs floating in this lake are from the original eruption - still there after 39 years!)

Above Harry's Ridge

Then it was time to climb.  Although only gaining 700 feet in a mile and a half, this leg of the hike is a long trudge.  Luckily the fantastic views of Spirit Lake and Mt St Helens helped (MSH made another quick appearance while I was ascending).  I could see several purple patches of lupine decorating the valley below - large enough to be visible from my high perch.

Butterfly

The wildflowers were out in force - lupine, paintbrush, stonecrop, asters, penstemon, and many more.  And with the flowers came butterflies, floating amongst the blooms.

Glimpse of St Helens Lake

Passing by the famed rock arch, I began seeing the shoreline of round St Helens Lake.  Formed when a debris flow from the 1980 eruption temporarily displaced Spirit Lake from it's bed, a large wave breached the adjacent ridge and water settled in this valley.  Usually a deep shade of blue, the day's cloudy skies instead gave St Helens Lake a blah gunmetal gray appearance.  I snapped a few token images and kept going. 

Lunch view - Spirit and St Helens Lakes

Finally I came to the Boundary Trail's junction with the path to Coldwater Peak's summit.  This was the extent of my past wanderings - it was now time to venture farther.  Taking a deep breath, I stepped into unfamiliar territory. 

Trail selfie

At first the Boundary trail contoured around the northeast side of St Helens Lake, offering great views of this little round water body.  But upon passing by a saddle, it began to climb once again.  As St Helens Lake began to shrink in the distance, Spirit Lake became closer.

Spirit and St Helens Lakes look very close (but they aren't)

It was a pleasant trek through more wide-open slopes seeing a different side of Spirit Lake.  I climbed up a slightly steep trail to the base of a rocky promontory called "The Dome."  The scenery here was just as spectacular as the area around St Helens Lake.

Fantastic views of both lakes

The Boundary Trail continued eastward another three miles to Mt Margaret, and 2.5 miles beyond to Norway Pass.  Although someday I'd love to traverse the entire distance (maybe a backpacking trip - certainly not a day hike!) today was not that day.  As it was already midday, I decided my turnaround point would be one mile past the Coldwater Peak junction.  At the base of the Dome, my gps registered the magic one mile mark. 

I love the views hiking back down to Harry's Ridge

It was time to find a lunch spot.  Climbing a nearby ridge via an elk trail I found just the place.  Perched on the apex, I could see both Spirit and St Helens lakes nestled into green hills.  On the other side was a deep valley, it's steep sides dropping into a stream.  Perfect! 

Spirit Lake

Food tastes so much better when you've hiked all morning.  I inhaled my sandwich, apple and potato chips (and there may have been a couple of cookies too!)  Feeling my energy return, it was time to retrace my steps back across the Boundary Trail.

Mt Adams peeping out of the clouds

Lo and behold, while I was enjoying my lunch, the sun decided to poke it's head out of the clouds, illuminating the area with light.  Funny what a difference a little sunshine makes!  The lakes glowed a lovely blue and the adjacent hills looked much greener than before.  As I slowly returned to the base of Coldwater Peak, I finally got my money shots of St Helens and Spirit Lake's blue waters.  I loved the unique perspectives of these two lakes, in such close proximity, from this new (to me!) section of the Boundary Trail.

Windy Ridge and Spirit Lake

Then it was a long, long trudge back down past Harry's Ridge and across the brushy valley.  By the time I passed Devil's Elbow, there were tons of hikers on the trail.  After seeing two people all day, it was kind of a shock (most people don't venture beyond Harry's Ridge).  Although the skies were now partly cloudy, Mt St Helens stubbornly hid underneath a thick layer of fog. 

Banner year for paintbrush

By now my feet were tired and complaining.  The worst part about the Boundary Trail was the final two miles back to Johnston Ridge that were mostly uphill.  But orange carpets of Indian paintbrush helped distract me and at long last the parking lot came into view.

A long day, I logged a grand total of 13 miles round-trip.  But exploring some fascinating new territory was worth the tired legs and sore feet. 

Hike No. 34 in the bag!  #52hikechallenge