We started our hike at the Bear Meadow parking lot, this route uses the boundary trail for half a mile to connect to the strawberry mountain trail. This trail is all uphill for the first mile before leveling out a bit. You eventually make it to the ridgeline and after following that for a bit you will come to a junction, take the left hand route to reach the site of the old lookout. Views from the top were incredible, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Jefferson were all visible, although there were some clouds hovering around them. The trail was in good condition, it looks like someone had very recently come through and done some trail work. We didn't see anyone on the way up but ran into some bikers and a few hikers on the way down. On our way down we did see evidence (see photo) of the telephone line that was strung up to the old lookout, so be on the lookout for these all along the trail as they are a cool piece of history.

Trail Scouting! I was fortunate to participate in a new process by WTA to equip volunteers to scout trails to evaluate general condition, note safety hazards, and set markers for maintenance required. Volunteers coordinate with WTA staff, and you’re able to do your scouting assignment on your own schedule.

We downloaded the mapping app Avenza, which is similar to Gaia, and works without cell service. We had a fun orientation with WTA staff member Ryan. Always mindful of safety, we were equipped with a WTA InReach and a Forest Service Radio.

My chosen assignment was Strawberry Mountain North, with access from Randle. Most people hike this long ridge trail from south to north, and for good reason. From the north, road 25 and 26 are paved and in good shape, but the 1.75-mile spur road 045 is pretty fugly, for high-clearance vehicles only, with a couple of nasty dropoffs.

Note that the Strawberry Mountain trail follows the ridge, but doesn't go to the summit. That would be a scramble for a couple of hundred feet. Not sure whether the summit would have better views.

I hiked the Strawberry Mountain Trail southbound from the 045 spur road to viewpoints about 6 miles south. Here’s my trail condition report:

Overall, the north section of the Strawberry Mountain Trail is in fairly good shape and is easy to follow, with just one small step-over blowdown.

There are no apparent safety issues with the trail.

The more level sections are fine. The steep sections are badly cupped and need extensive drainage work to prevent further erosion and companion trails.

The spur road 045 to the trailhead is in poor condition, suitable only for high-clearance vehicles with all-wheel drive, and even for capable vehicles, some parts of the spur road 045 seem precarious, with deep ruts, slumping, dropoffs, and high center berms. Walking the 1.75 miles of spur road 045 to the trailhead is recommended.

The difficult access road likely causes this trail to be less heavily used.

The trailhead is just a turnaround at the road end, with no facilities.

Because it follows the ridge, there is no water available from the trailhead to the viewpoints 6 miles south.

Because it was originally a mining trail, some sections of the Strawberry Mountain Trail are significantly steeper than the recommended 3 percent grade.

This causes the main problem with this trail: These steep sections are badly cupped, with stream channels down the middle of the trail.

Even minor cupping is difficult to walk on, which could cause companion trails and trail braiding.

There isn't much braiding now, but the cupping is likely to cause braiding to increase.

Since much of the soil is pumice, it's easily displaced by running water.

The majority of the cupped sections could be fairly easily remedied with a series of drain dips.

But a few of the very steep sections have deep cupping and trenching, where the steepness would require significant check steps and water bars.

These areas are all within the first two miles of trail, with only minor issues beyond.

The introduction to this trail is intact. The trail starts at Bear Meadow Interpretative Center Parking lot (bathrooms open).  Across FR 99 begins the Boundary Trail #1 begins.  The trail immediately ascends at a 10-20-degree incline.  From the trailhead to the 0.5-mile junction (Boundary Trail heads west, Strawberry Mountain Trail heads north) the trail is rutted in a “V” shape due to bicycle tires coursing down the center.  The tread is mostly pumice and  few trail erosions are due to water.  The 24" diameter log described in June has been cut and removed.  The tread for the first mile is mostly pumice.  The corridor has been opened the full length of the trail.  

The weather was so good I wanted a hike with mountain views, and I hadn't really been to St. Helen's, so I thought I'd give this hike a try. The road to the hike is totally paved with a very nice trailhead that is also a Mt. St. Helen's view point fully equipped with open bathrooms. I was the only one at the trailhead (arrived around 4pm). I started hiking the trail, and it was HOT! But you are rewarded almost immediately with really awesome helen's views (way better than the view point!). At about a half a mile the snow started and I lost the trail. I eventually found it (I went straight into a valley, but he trail did a hard hook left and up), and as I hiked there was intermittent snow patches with steep drop offs to the right (poles at least would be good), but the trail was easy to follow. At ~0.9 miles, there was a large tree down across the path, which I could not pass while alone and with two dogs, so I had to turn around. This seemed like an awesome hike that I would definitely do again! Hopefully I can make it back with a hiking buddy and less snow!

My first trip to Mt. St. Helens since 1999. I chose to try the Strawberry Mountain trail, starting from Bear Meadow, based on earlier write-ups here and the desire for solitude on a Saturday. This trail (or at least the southern portion) would be a good choice in the area on a hot day since much of it is just outside the blast zone and therefore shaded. The trail climbs, sometimes steeply, for the first mile or so, then levels off until crossing over the ridge into the blast zone shortly before reaching the summit. A little further on the trail splits at an unmarked junction; the left fork goes to the peak. There was a slide on this peak trail right above where it plateaus at an old road, and the continuation of the trail isn't visible from there, but I tried walking around the slide on the right and eventually spotted the trail again. Some of the remnants of the old lookout have been rearranged to form a ""bench"". My concerns of an overcast day proved unfounded, but unfortunately there were still enough clouds to block the two main attractions -- Mt. Adams and that other mountain. After taking in the available views, I returned to the trail junction (which I actually missed going up) and tried the right fork, which is the main trail, but after going downhill for several minutes and not wanting any long climb going back, I turned around. Having only had maybe five miles of hiking thus far, I decided to drive on to Windy Ridge -- which on this day was definitely living up to its name! -- and walked the old road the two miles each way to the base of the mountain. My first-ever look from that close! Even if I had wanted to continue further, though (which I probably couldn't anyway due to the lateness of the day at this point), a sign indicated that all trails in the pumice plain and on the mountain itself were still closed.