Mia and I headed up to the Mount St. Helens area for a hike this past weekend.  I’ve personally been jonesing big time to get up the this area.  Something about this particular mountain fascinates me.

We wanted something with views, no snow and a moderate distance.  Mia scoured our hiking books and finally settled on the Lewis River Trail.  I was more than ready for this one.

It took a bit longer to get here than we anticipated.  The drive up to Woodland doesn’t take much time, but following 503 to FR 90 to the parking area goes through some pretty winding roads.  It made for a fun drive, but took about 20-30 minutes longer than I figured it would.

The hike is a basic out and back.  3.5 miles each way, not a lot of elevation gain and follows the Lewis River for most of the length.  Only deviating away for very brief segments.

The temps were in the upper 30’s at the start and got up to the mid 40’s by the end.  It was cooler in a couple spots that the sun could not find and there were a couple icy sections where mist from the waterfalls created a nice coating.

It took us over 2 hours to hike the 3.5 miles up.  Not because we are slow and out of shape…….but because we kept stopping to take pictures.  There was just so much to see and so many cool shots and views to take in.

We started at the Lewis River camp ground, and I am definitely going to have to go back here and spend a few days.  This trail is popular with hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers.  Needless to say I want to do the whole 22 mile round trip on my mountain bike and get the full effect.  That will have to wait until next summer though.  It was icy in a few spots, and I imagine snow will be falling up there soon enough.

There are far too many photos to post.  You can see more of them here.

Thanks for reading.

-Pete