A mild day with partial clearing, a good day for an easy day hike with a 2 year old. The trail is in good condition, lots of small ponds and a few beaver dams, just a couple of mosquitoes. The views of the Toutle River and the valley are terrific, and except for one large group of school kids on a field trip, the trail was almost completely silent. I had not done this trail before, and there was still snow across all the nearby peaks, making for glorious scenery. The mountain itself was mostly in clouds, but broke through every now and then. Indian Paintbrush is really getting going and lupine is just getting started. We saw little wildlife, perhaps an osprey, a couple of frogs and caterpillars, etc. This is a good short hike if you are going to Johnston Ridge, with kids, etc., minimal elevation change.

We arrived at the trail about 2pm. The weather was fantastic! Be sure to go to the bathroom at Coldwater Lake as there are no bathrooms or outhouses at the Hummocks trailhead. This trail is not on the Spirit Lake Green Trails map as stated in the description. You don't really need a map for this short day hike. We wanted a quick day hike we could do while carrying a 2 month old baby. This trail was perfect. The trail is in awesome condition. There were some small patches of mud. Other than that the trail is nice and smooth. We did the trail in reverse of the signage so we were facing the mountain most of the time. By going in reverse you also go down the switchbacks rather than up them :) The hike was pretty cool. You can really see the micro ecosystems forming in the hummocks. The beaver dam is most impressive. The views of St Helens are fantastic. This hike would be great for little kids.

Triple Banger @ St. Helens 5-22-09 I packed a bag and headed out Friday morning. I arrived at the Spirit Lake Visitors center at 9:30. Only saw a couple of people and hoped this was going to be a trend all day…I did the small trail around the ponds and got some good photos of flowers and birds. Saw a boat and fisherman in the pond, totally out of place and I’m sure illegal, there were signs everywhere no fishing/hunting. Mountain was behind the clouds at this time. I was headed to coldwater lakes now and make a few stops along the way. Chatting with so many nice people at every stop. I arrived at Coldwater Lake around 10:30 and took more pictures and soaked in the views. I noticed some large charter buses in the parking lot. After speaking with a friendly fisherman he said they were a junior high group from Bellevue. I talked to the group leader about where the hummocks trailhead was and she warned me that she brought 400 students with her and there were more kids on the trail I was headed to.. I took a deep breath and said it can’t be that bad…I set out around 11:00 on the Hummocks trail which is located across the highway from the Lakes trail. Hummocks is a nice easy 2.5 mile loop with great views and diverse areas, ponds, meadows, lava formations, rocks, river, mountain views.. pretty much everything you would like in a trail except 400 students. I only had to move over once in the beginning and then the last ½ mile I had to say excuse me 50 times, I think that is what they were broken up in groups of.. It was funny to see the Bellevue mom’s in there “hiking” clothes. I made a quick side trip a few miles on the boundary trail to avoid one of the groups, it was worth it. When I was done I headed back across the street to walk the lake loop trail. Saw another sweet old fisherman and his dog Jack. The color of his lake is jade right and truly spectacular. I didn’t want to leave and was figuring out if I was going to drive home or stay the night somewhere.. originally I was going to do some trail on the South side of the mountain but after further review the only thing open is the ape caves and I will save that for a trip when I’m not solo. I was very interested in seeing the Lava Canyon area but the bridge is out and might be many months before the heli a new one in the ranger told me. The wildflowers are just starting to poke out so if you want a flower show wait a while. But it’s nice because there are not many bugs yet. All together I got around 5-6 miles in. This area reminded me a bit of Painted hills, Grand Canyon, and Rainer all rolled into one.

Trail is in great condition.

Beautiful and eerie, you can see the impact of the Big Blast of Mt. St. Helens on the Hummocks trail near the Coldwater Visitor Center and Coldwater Lake. Hummocks are huge piles of ash deposited by the mountain and the 2.5 mile loop trail winds around them. These hummocks are fascinating, and the erosion makes for odd, eerie shapes. It reminded me of the Badlands, or the moon (I have been to the Badlands, but not to the moon, though I want to go). The trail is interspersed with creeks that allow trees and flowers to grow and hug the banks, so there is some sweet shade to enjoy. Since the area is relatively treeless, there is nothing to stop the wind from hitting the leaves of the cottonwoods, and it's nice to listen to them rustle in the quietness. Lupine was in bloom, some the the tallest lupine I have ever seen. The sunshine and the heat released a wonderful fragrance from them. Please be sure to stay on the trail! I'm used to the rainy parts where you couldn't kill a plant if you wanted to. I didn't realize just how very fragile the flora is at Mt. St. Helens. With no mineral soil to cling to, the lichen and tiny flowers easily blow away with just one single footstep. I was doing trailwork down there, and felt guilty going a few feet off trail to do my job - the precious plants literally ""poof!"" away with each step. If the $100 fine for stepping off trail isn't deterrent enough, seeing the negative impact of a single footstep is.