Norway Pass — Sunday, May. 31, 2015

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

We had been wanting to do Norway Pass for a few weeks now, low clouds had changed our plans. We didn't want to get up there and not be able to see across Spirit lake to the crater of Mt St Helens. We arrived at the parking lot about 10:30AM on this Sunday morning. Only 3 cars where in the parking lot and there were few other people hiking the trail. The trail all the way up is mostly ash and pumice stone with loose gravel in only a couple places. The trail is suitable for children, but there is one tree down on the trail about half way up that you have to climb over and at the top where you get the views of the mountain, you are standing on a pretty steep cliff and you will have to supervise and watch the children well. Don't forget the water and sunscreen on this hike. There is little shade. This is a spectacular hike that shows the damage that was done. Twisted trees abound along the trail and across the valley are hundreds of downed trees covering the mountainside. At the top of the trail, you will see the crater of Mt St Helens with Spirit Lake in the foreground. On the way up, we caught glimpses of Mt Adams and Mt Rainier in the distance. We were amazed at the recovery of the foliage along the trail during the last 35 years. Unfortunately, we did see several places where people had veered off the path to take shortcuts through the foliage. Please remember that it is important to stay on the paths and off of the delicate foliage that is just now recovering from the tragedy that happened all those years ago.