7/16, Saturday. Cloudy, 20% chance of rain is in forecast. Cloudy weather is ideal to hike in Mt. St. Helens, as there's no shade to be had there. 13 of us walked about 9 miles from Windy Ridge, a lollipop kind of a loop, with the spur to Loowit Falls and back. Not a single drop of rain.
Flowers lined along the road as you drive in, as well as walking the first mile of 207 (the people at Mt. St. Helens Institute can drive this stretch of gravel road). This loop is entirely in the blast zone (you are not supposed to go off trail here, so no camping). Near the falls, the trail is more rugged: rocky. We saw two groups of goats, from 226 (Loowit Trail). There're a couple of easy creeks to cross, one of which is lushly green with blooming pink monkey flowers. Otherwise, it's more or less barren.
The northern part, along 207 and towards 207, flowers were covering the rocky ground for miles and miles, heavy scent of lupine. Mostly blue, some yellow and red. We really hit the jackpot for flowers today. Here you can see Spirit Lake, and briefly Mt Rainier, and Loowit Falls from afar.Since it's a long drive (3 hours), we stopped at Cougar for dinner. I happened to sit next to a table with two Mazama hikers aged 67 and 73. They were staying in a cabin here, and hike every day for 14, 15 miles. They look very enthusiastic and fit. Both of them usually hike twice a week, and do a ramble or 2 a week, plus going to gym. A lot of exercise!
