Hummocks Trail, Boundary West — Saturday, Jun. 12, 2010

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Our Mountaineers group picked the warmest day of the year (so far) to explore the Hummocks Loop Boundary Trail area just inside the Mount St. Helens blast zone. The entire hike was lower than 4500 feet, so we didn't have to concern ourselves with high avalanche warnings. We began on the Hummocks Loop, passing through low swampy areas in between the actual hummocks. At least as Saturday, there were no bugs. We then ascended slightly into recovering meadows and saw surprising amounts of penstemon, paintbrush, and spring beauty. The trail turned steep, and we had to puff our way up to Johnson Ridge. We were rewarded with stunning views of Mount St. Helens and the devastation. Of note is that piles of logs were pointed in the same direction, showing the power of the fearsome blast. Endless tree stumps clung to steep slopes, some of which looked as those they'd been flattened by machine. At one point, we thought we could see steam rising from the crater. The best views of the trail were fairly close to Loowit Viewpoint, our final destination and turn-around point. There were signs and plenty of people at the viewpoint, very few of whom attempted to do much more than look. This hike is about eight miles roundtrip with 1500 feet of gain. For Seattle hikers, the drive is 3.5 hours. Traffic jams in Tacoma could (and did) an an extra hour to the trip. However, the road is paved the entire way to the trailhead. Note that hikers must drive up to the Johnson Ridge Visiter Center to get day-use permits. These are $8 which will be waived if you present a Northwest Forest Pass. An America the Beautiful Pass will get four permits. There may be another place to get permits, so it would be great if someone with that information would post. There is no water or facilities at the trailhead, although you can fill bottles and use facilities at the visiter center. Finally, there are a couple of small airy spots on the trail which might bother those who have fear-of-heights. However, these are very short and well worth the fabulous views.