Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake

We have some friends over for the weekend, and while Catherine took Leesa and the kids to the Farmer's Market, Dan and I headed to Mt. St. Helens for a short hike. We made our way through the gray, overcast clouds not really anticipating a good day weather-wise. Along the drive up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory, we passed through the low-lying clouds and fog and into some beautiful blue skies.

This photo below is from the same pullout from our first trip, just better weather. If you look carefully (click the image for a larger photo), you'll see Mt. Adams in the background in the far left.

Dan and I took the Boundary Line Trail, which was a largely level trail. There is one rough section where those with a fear of heights will turn around. Luckily, neither me nor Dan are afraid of a 1000-foot drop-off and just a narrow foot path to traverse. Mt. St. Helens looks much better as it has been coated with a new layer of snow, probably the first of the season.

We made our way to Harry's Ridge; I have no idea who Harry is! However, he had a beautiful vantage point of Spirit Lake and Mt. St. Helens. Mt. St. Helens is five miles distant.

This final photo is of Spirit Lake, with Mt Adams looming in the background (left edge of the low-lying clouds). Those trees floating on Spirit Lake are the remnant of the old-growth forest that was blasted into Spirit Lake when Helens erupted in 1980. Apparently the lake rose over 400 ft. in elevation from pre-eruption levels. It has been left untouched since the eruption.

That's it for today. I'll have more photos in a future post from our weekend. Cheers!

Marc