While in Portland for a long weekend, we took a drive to Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was a beautiful day for a hike, and there was an abundance of wildflowers everywhere in sight.
After some photos outside the Johnston Ridge Observatory, we began our hike at the trailhead on the eastern side of the parking lot. We headed east along Boundary Trail, walking along a ridge which became quite narrow after the first mile or so.
It was narrow enough at points that we had to step aside to let returning hikers pass, but it wasn’t anything incredibly difficult.
At the junction with Truman Trail, the narrow ridge section was behind us and we stayed left to head north. At the next junction we turned right to proceed onto Harry’s Ridge Trail. We stopped to take photos at beautiful Spirit Lake, which still has many logs in it from the last Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980.
We then retraced our steps back to the parking lot.
Directions: Map to Johnston Ridge Observatory
Distance: 7.9 miles
Vertical: 1800 feet