Mount Saint Helens

We approached Mt. St Helens from the south, stopping first to explore Ape Cave. Interestingly, this lava cave was not created by the infamous 1980 eruption, but rather a much older eruption, thousands of years ago.

We did not go the entire length of the cave. It was very cold in there, and if I'm going on a long hike, I want to be able to see something. It's so dark in there, our flashlights barely reflected where our next step should be.

This above ground trail was interesting, as you could see the forms of ancient tree trunks that were caught in the lava flow. As the trees rotted it left their "molds."
One tree hole you could climb down and crawl under and up another....we didn't do that.

Our first glimpse of Mt. St. Helens, shrouded in clouds. We were afraid this was all we would see of it today.
Our next stop was Lava Canyon, also formed by an ancient eruption.

You want to take the trail with us, don't you?

Here's where it begins to get tricky.

A view down the canyon

The water flows swiftly between walls of hardened lava

Joselyn on the trail...be careful, it's wet and slippery in places.

Negotiating a slippery, rocky slope.

Pausing for a photo

Uh oh, is that a suspension bridge ahead?

Yup

At least it has guard rails.

Looking down

Want to look down with us?

Going back up the other side

We made it!

No, there's a little more

But when we emerge from the canyon....look! The sun has come out, and we can see all of Mt. St. Helens!

On the road to the eastern Windy Ridge entrance

Bear grass

Entering the area of destruction...

Trees blown down, still remain strewn on the mountainsides, 30 years later.

A car buried by the mudslide.

Our enthusiastic tour guide

On her first hiking tour to Meta Lake, a lake spared the destruction because it was buried under many feet of snow. Everything surrounding was destroyed.

Because the taller Douglas Fir trees were blown down, the smaller Silver Fir were able to grow as you see here.

A little snow

We can see Mt. Adams from here.

And other snow-capped peaks.

Spirit Lake

Logs of blown-down trees still float around on its surface.

Spirit Lake always reminds me of the crusty old man who declined to evacuate.

A view of the crater

From the parking lot at Windy Ridge, we see a trail that will take us even higher. You want to go higher, don't you?

It's windy on Windy Ridge

View of the crater....you can see the lava dome forming in the center.

Looking down at the parking lot

Mt. Adams in the distance. You can also see the top of Mt. Ranier from up here, but I didn't get a picture of it.

Mt. Hood in OR can be seen from here too.

Pretty flowers everywhere....what are these?

We camped in a National Forest campground near Randle.

These shamrock-looking plants are called Oregon Oxalis.

It looked like a rain forest.

Bandit's kind of campground.

He loved it there.

In the morning, one more view of Mount Saint Helens from 24 miles away.

And a little volcano trivia posted in the gift shop there.