May 11, 2002
I took a northern approach to Mount St. Helens via Highway 12 near the town of Randle. The US Forest Road 25 was snow-free up to the Iron Creek Falls. I hiked down the snow-packed trail to the Falls and took in the scenery and stillness. From there I drove all the way around the Gilfford Pinchot National Forest and entered from Highway 504 via I-5. The road was closed at the base of Coldwater Lake, but the view of Mount St. Helens from Coldwater Ridge was just as spectacular on this clear day as would be from Johnson Ridge. Even after twenty-two years, the remnants of the eruption were all around - hummocks, ashes, dead trunks of felled trees, and the big scar on the mountain's once-conical peak. I saw some young deer grazing the hills, a falcon, and an eagle. The Hummocks Trail, which goes all the way down to the Toutle River, was well maintained and offered close-up view of the hummocks and the mountain.
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