We went to Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument 14 years after the volcano blew. It was amazing to see the devastation that still remained; acres of blown down trees that still had not been removed and a barren gray world as far as the eye could see. The mountain sat silent as we watched from the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center, the top still snow covered even in July. You could easily see the huge dent in the top where it had exploded off.
At the time, we were living in Tennessee where in July, it was HOT. We flew into San Francisco and had to buy clothes as it was cold to us. We drove up the coast on a pilgrimage to see where my husband had grown up in Medford, OR. It was his idea to rent a car and drive up the coast. It turned out to be a good idea and the best vacation we ever had. When we reached Washington where his parents now live, his step-father suggested we go up and see Mount St. Helens. He had worked as a counselor at the YMCA camp for several years before the mountain exploded and then afterwards he did computer programming for a rock crusher up there. They live in Kelso, WA and received quite a bit of the ash fall when the mountain blew.
It was nice to have a running commentary of how the area was before the volcano exploded. We hit all of the visitor centers and learned sooo much! I highly recommend that you not omit stopping at these great places. Besides getting all the inside information you need for your trip, they usually have gift shops or bookstores where you can purchase excellent topical books. Some of my best hiking books came from a visitor center!
The drive down Hwy 504 takes you into the middle west section of the monument. There was a definite contrast in the sections of the park that escaped devastation. Mount St. Helens is located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest where there is tons of outdoor adventure awaiting you. Mount Margaret Backcountry is the hiking area for Mount St. Helens, but the national forest itself has over 1,200 miles of trail, including 150 miles of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. There are gorgeous mountain lakes and waterfalls also.
Since it was an unplanned side stop, we didn’t get a chance to do any hiking or climbing, which I would definitely go back for. The area is recovering nicely and the surrounding mountain lakes beckon to be fished and hiked around. I would also like to climb Mount St. Helens, but as of the writing of this, the mountain is closed to hiking due to current volcanic activity. It’s always something!
By Corie Marks
Adventure-Crew.com