Mt. St Helens Blast Zone

Last Saturday (10/2/10) my friend Chris and I took a trip to the Mt. St. Helens (MSH) blast zone. This is the N-NE side of the mountain that blew apart and devastated many square miles of forest on May 18, 1980. Our goal was to hike to Loowit Falls and get a close up view of the crater dome.

The weather was gray in the morning, but the forecast called for the clouds to burn off… and they did. The sky was crystal clear, which meant unobstructed views of MSH and the surrounding area.

We started off at the Windy Ridge trailhead and headed for the restricted zone. The restricted zone is open to day hikers only. No dogs, pack animals or camping.

As we got closer, we could see steam coming out of the mountain and were excited about being able to see it come right out of the dome from close up. We were disappointed when we realized that, from the direction we came, the cliffs and ridges prevented us from seeing the dome itself. In order to have a close up view of the dome, we would have had to come from a different direction on a much longer trail.

However, we were not disappointed by the other views. Because we were so high up and because there were no trees, we could see for miles. Incredibly, we could see all the way from the Olympic Mountains to Mt. Hood. It was also amazing to see the devastation, as well as the recovery that has occurred during the last 30 years. Loowit Falls was pretty too.

The total mileage was only 10.4 miles, while the total elevation gain was only 1,600’. Compared to what Chris and I have done this summer, this was an easy hike.

Link to Mt. St. Helens blast zone pictures on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54959080@N05/sets/72157625226638914/detail/

For a totally cool video of MSH, check out this link to a 360 degree video. Be sure to left click and drag on the video itself to change the view, and to view the two other videos.

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/video/immersive-media/vid1.shtml