R is for RVenture, Mt. St. Helens & Mt. Rainier, 8.25.19-8.28.19, Part 1 of 3
It didn’t take long after returning from our incredible trip to Lake O’Hara before Bridgit and I were chomping at the bit to go find another adventure. For this trip (which was planned at the spur of the moment) we decided to combine a relaxing few days camping with the RV and a couple of easy hikes. Bridgit was back east visiting her folks when I went backpacking to Mt. St. Helens a month ago and I really wanted her to see the awesome views from Bear Pass so we found a site in a state park called Ike Kinswa way down I-5 on Highway 12 which runs between Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. Ike Kinswa State Park turned out to be a really nice spot with many sites right next to a big lake with private trails to the beach. It is also designed for RVs with flat pull through sites or back in sites. We would definitely go back there just to camp for a few days. I swam and the water temperature was very comfortable.
Ike Kinswa Day Use Area
The next morning we broke camp and headed further east on Highway 12 to Randle before driving south to the Norway Pass Trailhead. The Forest Service roads from Randle to the trailhead were pretty beat up but I got the RV to Norway Pass Trailhead with no issues. We had perfectly blue sky as we day-hiked up the same trail I had backpacked in the drizzly rain with Cindy and Greg in July.
Bear Pass as seen from near the start of the trail
It is only three miles and maybe 900’ of vertical gain to Bear Pass so we got there fairly quickly. The views of course hadn’t gone anywhere and we had clear sunny weather to gawk at four volcanoes - Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier.
Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake from Bear Pass
From the knob above the pass we could see a big chunk of where we had gone on our backpack trip the previous month. In the photo below we had dropped off the north (right) side of Bear Pass and hiked almost to the far right side of the photo before winding around to the back side of the ridge.
Bear Pass on left
Mt. Rainier loomed large to the north
Pano from Bear Pass. Norway Pass below and our trail traversing the hillside.
Bridgit coming off the knoll above Bear Pass
Crossing the “crux move” on the descent
When I was here in July the flowers were at their peak but on this trip we were hiking in prime huckleberry season. It took us forever to get back to the RV but we picked a couple of quarts of ripe delicious huckleberries along the way. Huckleberry cobbler? Maybe huckleberry muffins? Gotta save some for huckleberry pancakes!
Meta Lake and Mt. Adams
It was a really nice day hiking with my wife. With kids heading back to school and Labor Day around the corner the weekdays are really going to be a whole lot less crowded on the trails. I love hiking in the fall!