Surrounded By Volcanoes - Mt. St. Helens Natl. Volcanic Monument, 7.7.19 - 7.9.19: Part 4 of 4
Sunshine greeted us on our pack out day and yet the temps were pleasant and perfect for hiking. So far we had really dodged the rain bullet and had pretty great weather. The forecast had been spot on for the three days but more rain was on the way so we hit the trail at 8:30AM for the hike back to the trailhead.
"Don’t forget to sunscreen your ears"
On our way in it had been so foggy we never saw half the stuff we saw on the way out including Obscurity Lake itself.
Obscurity Lake. The knoll on the left is what we had climbed the first day from camp.
Climbing up past Grizzly Lake on the way out we were greeted with Mt. Rainier peeking up over the far ridge. My heart was getting all aflutter at the thought we might get really lucky at Bear Pass.
Grizzly Lake (Rainier poking up on the right).
At Grizzly lake the trail climbs steadily out of the valley towards Bear Pass. With the gods smiling down on us, as we crested Bear Pass we were greeted with the full on in your face view of Mt. St. Helens in all her glory. It literally takes your breath away and as I’ve said many times, photos cannot possibly do it justice. It’s just so much bigger than the photos convey.
Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake
And it wasn’t just St. Helens. From our vantage point at Bear Pass, four of the Northwest volcanoes could be seen.
Mt. Hood, Oregon
Mount Rainier to the north
Mt. Adams to the east
The new lava dome inside the Mt. St. Helens crater
One happy backpack team!
The Portals of Ash
Last look at St. Helens from Norway Pass
Another plus side to this trip was that it was my first time backpacking with Greg and Cindy. Hopefully this was just the first of many more trips to come!