Mt. St. Helens

I took a quick trip to the Mt. Margaret Wilderness Area within the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument/Gifford Pinchot National Forest this weekend for an overnight backpacking trip. It was the hottest day of the year by about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit), with no real shade to speak of. It was a long, hot, uphill slog. The reward was the beautiful views, and lingering snow fields. Those dropped the temperature several degrees, and felt great!

I set up my hammock-tent at Bear Camp and decided to wander further west along the trail, but got turned away by several imposing snow fields with impressive drops. Discretion won out over valor, probably a good thing many miles from civilization.

So I wandered back to Bear Camp and decided to have dinner while I waited for sunset. Bear Camp sits on top of a ridge with great views of both Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, you just have to face the opposite direction to take them both in. A 200 meter walk down the trail, and you can get good views of Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and just visible in the distance Mt. Jefferson. So five volcanoes in one good sweep.

While exploring for some good sunrise photos for the next morning, I saw this cliff in the distance just shining in the sun with Mt. Rainier in the background. I wandered over that way and was thrilled with the wildflower display, the snowfield, and the background. It all came together pretty nicely for this photo.

I was up good and early for sunrise, just out of habit, but I was glad I did! In the other direction, sunrise was coloring the sky beautifully. The photo below is from the trail I had hiked in on, and those are the first snow fields I had encountered.

We are trying to stay cool, since we don't have AC in this house. Thankfully the weather is supposed to be more normal starting tomorrow, but we've enjoyed the heat!

Have a wonderful day! Cheers,

Marc