This from the Forest Service Website Re: FS26 04/11/2016: Closed at milepost 8 due to washout. Note: Some access routes to this site are unusable due to recent flood damage. View a map of inaccessible roads on the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District to determine alternative access routes. Call the Ranger District at 360-497-1100 for additional information. Link: http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recarea/?recid=74304 Directions to trail head say you need to travel 12 miles on FS26. Was not able to access trail head. Bug report, snow condition and trail condition are unknown but couldn't post about the road closure without an entry in those fields

This hike has lots to offer and is well worth the price of admission. Great views from Goat Mt ridge line. It was cloudy most of the day, but the sun came out in the afternoon and offered us views of 5 mountains, including Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens, Mt Adams, Mt Hood, and Mt Jefferson. We observed lush greenery returning in the blast zone. Numerous species of conifers are growing up there and they smelled great. A few flowers still blooming and a few berries still left. We hiked on to Deadman Lk as well, which is quite lovely. Heard a barred owl cackling in the forest around the lake.

Went about 3.3 miles in....not all the way to the lake, then turned back. Will have to finish another day. Awesome view of the vastness of the blast zone. Besides St. Helens, also saw Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams peeking out from behind clouds and haze. Did not see any bugs, some huckleberries still available. Saw more of the red variety than purple. Still evidence of asters and paintbrush. Already seeing some evidence of fall. Only ran into a couple of other hikers, both with leashed dogs. A few more cars at the trailhead. 26 is narrow with lots of pot holes but totally passable if you drive slow. The sign for 26 is spray painted on the back of another sign....very helpful! Also, saw a huge toad on the way down!

I love hiking around Mt. St. Helens, but I always forget how long it takes to get there… It seems like less of a drive than it is, but the forest service roads can be slow going. We took FR 25 to FR 26 to get into the trailhead - though I'm not sure it's the best option. 99 to 26 might be quicker, even though it's the longer route. 26 was paved the whole way, but quite rough, so you really can't go very quickly - not even with high clearance if you don't want to kill your rims and tires. Most of the big holes have been thoughtfully marked with spray paint, but the washouts can have nasty transitions from pavement to gravel and back and they can be hard to see just how deep they are. The shorter route on 26 from 99 has some pretty crazy holes too, but is a much shorter distance. There was a car back there, so it could be done, but serious care would be needed to avoid the really high/low spots. The trail was in great shape. I don't recall any blowdowns and even though it looks like it sees at least some use from horses and mt. bikes, the tread was mostly in really great condition. It wasn't even as dusty as I expected - but there really is no water until you get to the lakes, so be sure to carry enough. Most of the climbing is, thankfully, done in the shade of the woods. The flowers were definitely waning. There was still some paintbrush, but the beargrass, which must have been stunning, was done. The berries however were amazing. Once you hit the ridge you could just stick your hand out, pretty much anywhere and grab a ripe huckleberry or blueberry. There was even a small clearing full of wild strawberries, OMG, I love wild strawberries. It's like each tiny berry has a whole basket's worth of flavor packed right in. It was just warm and sunny enough to smell like a warm pie when we hit the meadow. YUM! and we didn't even have to fight the chipmunks to get a few. We went past Goat Mountain, down to Deadman's Lake, where we had lunch and did a little wading. Fortunately there was a good breeze blowing and the flies that had been a plague were not around much there, so we could actually sit and enjoy eating. The lake is interesting - it's very shallow for what looks like maybe 30-40 feet or so, but then goes quite dark blue like it drops off suddenly. I didn't go out very far, as I didn't want to be anywhere near the edge. The water was no more than mid calf deep and quite warm. The bottom was sandy to a little slimy, but no sticky mud. The trail was not crowded at all - we didn't see anyone but hikers and not too many of them. There were a few people coming out from spending the night as we were going in and a couple of huckleberry pickers who totally flew down the mountain after they had their days collection (I suspect they may have had a ride coming at 5pm). My only disappointment was that the one person who had dogs only served to reinforce my negative impressions… I really do not appreciate being charged by very large, off leash, growling dogs and then to have the owner just giggle nervously and say they are a little rambunctious. I don't find it amusing at all. If they don't have good trail manners, you should leave them at home. Not to mention the lovely pile of steaming dog crap you left in the trail for us to find on our way back. The flies were nasty - I'd probably only have rated them as annoying, as I didn't think they were actually biting me, but by about 24 hours later I'd broken out in at least about a dozen itchy, swollen welts - one on my finger, bad enough I needed to use lotion to get my rings off (which I figured I'd best do, so they didn't cause even more swelling and then need to be cut off). I know that the mosquito repellent I use doesn't do anything for flies and there weren't any mosquitos, so I wasn't using anything. If the flies stay bad I may have to look into finding something that repels flies. I'm still really itchy almost 3 days on :(

Fabulous 4th of July overnight. Road 26 is unmarked, otherwise drive in was easy. We didn't encounter a single person on the trail on the way in our out, and we had a beautiful campsite at Deadmans Lake. There were several other parties at the lake, but campsites are spread out and private. From the ridge you can see Mt. Adams, Hood and St. Helens, and with a short scramble to the top of Goat Mt you can see Rainier in addition to the other 3 in one panorama. Trail was dry, so carry water. Some black flys but no mosquitos even at the lake.