Mt. St Helens
"Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades or more or less."
The last couple of days of our trip were spent exploring Mt. St. Helens and the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.
I was looking forward to seeing Mt. St Helens and how it has recovered since 1980. This is a nice read if you are interested.
We explored the Weyerhauser visitor center for a bit as we waited for the clouds to lift. The brothers decided to be goofy with the stuffed animal puppets lol.
There was still a line of clouds just sitting in the middle of the mountain all day when we we began our hike (go figure!) However I think the cloud cover made for some interesting photographs!
We completed Harry's Ridge Trail which was the longest and highest in elevation change that we did on this trip. At times I started to jog so I wouldn't miss an opportunity to photograph the mountain. The views were well worth the effort!
Spirit Lake is seen in our pictures below. It was a popular tourist destination until Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980.
Columbia River Gorge
The Columbia River Gorge in Oregon is a pretty area and we definitely did not spend enough time here.
We hiked Beacon Rock which was straight up a series of switchbacks with views of the river. It was a nice trail and real short.
We traveled a little further east down the gorge to hike the Mosier Plateau Trail after Beacon Rock. The balsamroot wildflowers were just about gone but there were blue/purple flowers everywhere! It was very pretty.
There were views of the river from this trail as well. It wasn't as easy as Beacon Rock but definitely an enjoyable hike that I recommend doing when the wildflowers are out!
The weather and landscapes are definitely different in this area (away from the coast). We saw a couple of lizards on the trail.
Now onto the waterfalls! There are a lot and we only had so much time to do two. Multnomah Falls was not an easy hike on our last day but you do not have to hike it at all (you can see it from the parking lot). It is a very popular trail! When we first parked our car, the falls looked like a scene from the upside down on Stranger Things lol.
The second waterfall hike we squeezed in before our flight was Wahclella Falls which was an easier hike but you will not find the main waterfall attraction until a mile into the hike (which is at the end before you turn around and come back).
On our way to Portland airport we saw plenty of views of Mount Hood in the distance. I was hoping we would have time to do a hike around Mt. Hood but maybe next time! Mt. Hood has an elevation of 11,249 ft. From the plane we saw Mt. Adams, Mt. St Helens, and Mt. Rainier as well. Mt. Adams has an elevation of 12,281 feet. We actually saw Mt. Adams peeking above Mt. St Helens on our hike since Mt. St Helens has an elevation of 8,363 feet. Mt. Rainier of course is the tallest at 14,411 feet. They are all potentially active stratovolcanoes in the Cascade Range except for Mt. St Helens which is listed as active.
Three of the peaks from the plane all together below. (I believe Mt. Hood is missing from this one)
Here is our itinerary for this part of our trip:
June 19 Sunday - Mt. Rainier National Park→Toutle
Breakfast- mtn goat coffee
Check out from air bnb Packwood
Travel to Columbia river gorge:
Beacon rock
Mosier ridge trail
Travel back to toutle
Dinner : Mexican at El compadre
Check in cottage toutle air bnb
June 20 Monday - Mt St. Helens/Columbia River Gorge
Breakfast at Peper's 49
Check out from cottage toutle
Travel to Mt st helens
Johnston ridge observatory
Harry's ridge
Weyerhaeuser visitor center
Travel to Columbia river gorge
Dinner pbj
Check in cabin estacada
June 21 Tuesday - last day
Check out
Breakfast Heidi's at Gresham
Waterfall corridor 9 am reservation
Multnomah falls
Wahclella falls
Drive to Portland Airport, return car
Flight home: southwest to Pittsburgh
Overall, we had a really great trip out to the Pacific North West and exploring the 3 National Parks of Washington, Washington state parks, and Oregon state parks. There is much to offer for those wanting to hike and we hope to return someday! I can't believe our trip has officially come to an end with all of the months I spent planning. Now it is time to relax, reflect, refresh, and start planning another adventure! There is a lot of hiking in Washington besides the national parks - hopefully one day we can visit the other areas!
If you didn't read about our North Cascades National Park visit click here ! Click here for our Olympic National Park post! Click here for our Mt. Rainier post! Click here for the Deception Pass/Whale watch post!
Cheers!
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