South Coldwater Trail

Trail Conditions: The trail starts out in a wooded area that has a lot of tent caterpillars at the moment. The caterpillars don't cause any problems while hiking, but are slightly creepy to look at. There are few trees along most of the trail which means no shade from the hot sun so bring plenty of water, no water available on trail. The bugs were present and very hungry, recommend good repellent. We saw two snow patches, each two feet across, located just off-trail near the saddle. Lots of wildflowers in bloom along most of the trail.

Trail Description: We started at the South Coldwater trailhead. Parking was not an issue at 11am on a Saturday. The trail quickly climbs up out of the trees and meets up with an old logging road. After the trees there are good views for the remainder of the hike. Along the old logging road you find some old logging equipment. Seeing the twisted steel gives you a unique sense of the incredible force of the eruption. We continued to the Coldwater saddle where we had lunch and enjoyed a great view of Mt. St. Helens. Overall the trail has a few steeper parts but is mostly a steady climb upwards. Relatively easy climb.