Harry's Ridge hike- Mt St Helens-7/21/13

Hike description http://www.nwhiker.com/GPNFHike41.html

On Sunday, July 21, we headed out for a day-trip to Mt. St. Helen's.  We decided to hike up to Harry's Ridge, for some great views of the devastation that took place back in 1980, as well as see how things are coming back after 3 decades.

On the way, we stopped at a few viewpoints along SR 504.

Mt St Helens from roadside viewpoint-  fog covering river basin

caterpillar on wall from above pano pic

Mt St Helen's from first viewpoint

Mt St Helen's from Loowit viewpoint

Lupine at Loowit viewpoint

Us at lower viewpoint

We arrived at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, got our Monument passes and looked around for a bit.  We watched one of the films they play on the eruption and then headed out on the Boundary trail towards Harry's Ridge.  The first 1/4 mile of the trail is paved.  There were a handful of people along this section admiring the mountain.  After the pavement ends, the trail is pretty dusty, well actually I guess it is ashy.
For about a mile and a half, it is a pretty easy trail that has gentle ups and downs. It is wide enough in some areas to walk side-by-side with someone else.

What are we up against??

Then there comes a more dangerous section.  The trail traverses the side of a hill.  It is a narrow section of trail with loose rock.  The slope to the side goes straight down.  I would not recommend this section for people with younger kids.
There is a great view of the mountain just before this section of trail starts, so it would be worth it to come to just this spot and turn around.

View of Mt St Helen's before trail goes along narrow ridge

But of course, if you keep going, the views only get better! You just have to face your fear of falling (if you have one).  Cher was a little hesitant after going about halfway, but she was a champ and did this entire section!

a narrow trail with loose gravel and a steep slope down = no fun

beauty amongst the rock

After the narrow portion of trail, just when you begin to think it might be time to turn back, it ends.  And you are rewarded with another beautiful view of the mountain.
The trail then continues.  It climbs for a bit.  At the 2.7 mile mark, there is a junction with the Truman trail.  This trail will take you to the Loowit trail (that circumnavigates the mountain).  We continued forward.  The entire trail is pretty exposed, with no trees to provide shade(other than a few spots of smaller Aspen trees).  We took advantage of the 3 liters of water in our packs and would occasionally wet our heads.

We made it! and its hot!

For the next mile, you can see just how far the devastation made it through the Mt Margaret back-country.  There are smaller fir trees making a comeback though.

Cher admiring the nearby peak

beautiful back-country

After about 3.5 miles, you to a junction with Harry's Ridge trail.  There is a saddle viewpoint just a bit farther along the Boundary trail, if you want to get a view of the lake from here.

Super Cher!!

viewpoint along Harry's Ridge trail.  Mt Adams in the distance

We went up Harry's Ridge trail.  This trail is about a mile long and quickly gains in elevation.  Along the entire trail, you can enjoy views of Spirit lake and the Mt Margaret back-country.

Mt Adams above Spirit Lake

At the summit of Harry's Ridge, there is a rewarding 360 degree view of the whole area, including Mt St Helen's.  The summit is at about 0.7miles.

View from Harry's Ridge

The trail continues or another 0.3 miles, and looses elevation.  You get a little closer to the mountain though.

We thought the summit was a beautiful spot to enjoy our lunch.  We found a place out of peoples way, with a great view of the lake and the mountain.

Lunchtime

It was nice to sit for a while and just take in the views.  There was a nice breeze from the South and the sun was shining.

Happy girl

It was a perfect time to "kick off your shoes and stay a while". 

Time to kick off the boots for a bit

Peaceful

We were able to see Mt Adams, Mt Hood and Mt St Helen's from up here.  After about 40 minutes, we decided it was time to head back. 

Indian Paintbrush and Lupine were abundant up here

When we got back to the Truman trail junction, we looked back up to where we cam from on Harry's ridge.

Harry's Ridge from Truman trail junction

The islands in the lake are hummocks, or chunks of the mountain that were blown off during the eruption

a mini-sized pine cone

The sun was in our faces on the way back.  It felt more intense being later in the day.  We did a few more head wetting stops.  Then we came, once again to the not-so-fun section of trail.  I took some time to enjoy the view, before walking along it.

We were on the trail for about 5 hours.  It was a beautiful day and an amazing story that goes along with a beautiful day of hiking.  We stopped at the Forrest Learning center on the way back, to check out the scoured river basin.  We will be planning more hikes in this area again soon.