Mount St Helens

---

My Airbnb host suggested Mount St Helens as a good option for something to do to beat the heat in Portland and the traffic to the coast. The park was only a 2 hour drive so I decided to make a day of it. And I would say it was worth it! Mount St Helens is a part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and falls under the USDA's forest service. It is technically called the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument and so I was able to get a stamp for my national park passport. The only area I had to pay a fee for was the Observatory, but the $8 was worth it for the visitor center and outdoor viewing platform.

It's a fairly easy drive to get to the park from Portland and there are several different sides of the mountain to visit. I was headed to the Johnston Ridge Observatory located on the north side of the crater so I took I-5 to Highway 504. This highway winds its way through the forest, gradually gaining elevation on the way to the observatory. There are several scenic turnouts along the road and I recommend stopping at each one. You get views of the valley and hills before the mountain and then, gradually closer views of the crater itself. As you get closer, the lack of forest becomes more evident and you realize you are within the blast zone. The road ends at the Observatory, which is 4314' in elevation and offers great views of the crater and devastated north side. There are two different videos shown in the theater here and I watched the one about life returning to the region after the eruption. It only took a few days after May 18, 1980 for burrowing animals to emerge and start to rebuild the valley. It was amazing to learn that the animal and plant population is actually higher today than it was prior to the eruption. That's due to the fact that the dense forest is gone and sunny areas are more prevalent. Eventually, the forest will take over and populations will decline again. The circle of life! There are lots of walking trails, but it was sunny and warm so I only walked a short way from the observatory. There is an obvious lack of shade here so you would need to come prepared if you were going to do any real hiking.

It's interesting to see the before shot of this beautiful snowy domed mountain and then the present day version, which is a blasted out crater that is not quite as sparkly. There was some snow, but most of the mountain and the immediate surrounding area is gray and dull. This is still an active volcano that sends up smoke almost daily and smaller eruptions occasionally. If you have more time in the area, I think the next spot I would visit is the Windy Ridge stop at the end of highway 99. This is on the east side of the crater and has views of Spirit Lake, which was covered in a mat of logs after the blast. Sounds like there are still some there today and it would give another perspective on the eruption. Plus, there would probably be some great views of Mount Rainier, which I'm pretty sure was visible to the north from where I was.

I stopped at Coldwater Lake on my way out of the park to eat the sub sandwich I had bought earlier in the day. There is no food for sale on this road once you pass the last little town so you need to come prepared. Outside of the park, there is a visitor center run by a logging company that is also free. A good place to stop for a drink and a view of the valley farther west of the mountain.

I'm really glad I made the drive up to Mount St Helens. I learned a lot about the aftermath of May 18th and saw some great scenery at the same time. I recommend going early as it was starting to fill up as I was heading out. The Observatory opens at 10 and I got there a few minutes after. I was one of the only cars going up, but there were a lot more headed that way as I was coming down. I would suspect it is the same for the other roads in the park. The only problem is, you have to go all the way back to I-5 on each road to get to the next. There is no way across the mountain. So it's hard to see more than one area in a day, unless you make a really long day of it.

And so, back to Beaverton to end the day and my vacation. Tomorrow is a day of flying as I had to make a stop in Phoenix to be able to use my miles. But free airfare so I'm just going to make the best of it!

---