The hike at Mount St. Helens began at the Johnston Ridge Observatory on the north side of the mountain (with an $8.00 monument fee). Taking the trail heading to the east from the observatory you follow a ridge for 2.5 miles. Then you encounter Truman Trail which heads down into the mud plains and towards Spirit Lake. We stopped about 2 miles into the mud plain.
The whole hike takes you across barren areas of rock and gravel with views of trees flattened like toothpicks by the blast, past steep ridges facing the mountain, through areas of rock sprinkled with small patches of wildflowers, across a desert of ash dunes, and through the mud plain of rocks and small streams feeding Spirit Lake from Mount St. Helens snowmelt. These streams can be seen as waterfalls in Mount St. Helens's crater.
Mount St. Helens (Part 2) chronicles the journey into the mud plains and back to the observatory.
Hi, mom!
Life after devastation.
The edge of the ash dunes.
The many colors of rock in the area.
The crater from the plain.
Snowmelt streams running to Spirit Lake.
A look into the steaming crevasse.
Mt. Adams, Washington (12,276ft/3725m) 38 miles away (300mm lens).
Darius: dariusg@hevanet.com