We knew it would be sketchy weather (possibility of rain) but we headed out to Mt St Helens just the same. It turned out to be a lovely day, rather warm, but breezy with misty white clouds overhead. The mountain almost looked to be in soft focus as the snow evaporated before our eyes!
We pretty much had the area to ourselves. There was another lone hiker and a couple row boats out on the peaceful lake. The diversity of the hike was huge and we saw more wildlife there than we had ever seen on any other hike. We saw
evidence of elk (prints, scat) and beaver (a lodge)
a bald eagle!
Canada geese
a coyote
a grouse
and lots of singing birds.
A beautiful God blessed day!
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| We started out at the "birth of a lake trail" This used to be a river but the volcanic explosion with the mud etc, clogged it up. |
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| our first encounter, a coyote |
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| our second encounter, the eagle - he flew right over our heads! |
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| aaachoo! pollen |
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| lots of stream crossings but this one meant Jean got her feet wet |
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| 30 yeas and lots of trees |
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| this gravel fan is from a huge cut out in the side of the mountain |
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| from the gravel fan |
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| the blast effects are still evident |
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| evidence of beaver activity |
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| the lodge |
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| a 50 ft bridge across the river feeding the lake - we turned around here |
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| lunch |
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| this landslide is huge - hard to get an idea in the photo |
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| this area had been logged before the blast - the tree trunks were enormous - check out the size of the bench to the right |
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| logged hillside in the blast section |
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| afternoon light - mountain comes back into view |
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| sitting on a nest - the other goose was in the water making a fuss at us |
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| afternoon light - the boardwalk is part of the Birth of a Lake trail |
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| a pano from the viewpoint above the valley - our hike was to the left |
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