Forest Road 99 will be open on or around July 4th, providing access to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint and other trails in the area. Due to a landslide of Forest Road 25, Randle and Forest Road 99 will be inaccessible from Cougar. Contact the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument for more information at 360-449-7800.

A rare rainy day that provided a respite from recent toasty temperatures. We started from Bear Meadow Interpretive Site where there's a roomy paved parking lot and vault toilet, as well as interesting photographic display of Mt St Helens' eruption and the lateral blast from that vantage point. Not sure why there's complaints about FR25 and FR99 ... both roads are paved and a heck of a lot better than driving washboard, pot-holed gravel roads.

This route passes in and out of the trees, eventually reaching the barren ridge leading to Strawberry Mountain Lookout site, our destination. 4.5 mile roundtrip, 1350’ elevation gain

Trail surface is good and we found only one short section of a couple steep steps up on fractured rock covered with broken pieces that was a challenge ... mostly because a slip/fall could mean a tumble down a long, rocky slope. Being the older crowd that we are, this section was safely managed with careful foot placement and poles. Possibly, the younger, sure-footed might not even notice this transition area 😂. We lunched at the Lookout site where remnants of concrete pillars, cable, nails and other artifacts give evidence. Mostly in the clouds, our perch didn't provide the promised 360º views. However, demarcation of the lateral blast zone could be appreciated and tranquil Strawberry Lake easily seen. The skirt of Mt St Helens finally made a brief appearance right before departing the Lookout site and we waved goodbye (video). Lack of expansive views let us appreciate the blooming wildflowers all the more. A couple of my favorites for the day are included in this post.

Hiked up to the former Strawberry Mountain lookout site from the Bear Meadows interpretive site.

Road Conditions. Arrived via Rd 25/99. Paved, but poor visibility and uneven pavement. Bear Meadows had plenty of space both when we started (early in the morning) and when we returned (early in the afternoon). 1 of 4 toilets were open for business.  Left via Rd 26, which had the same issues, but probably less traffic.

Trail Conditions. No obstacles, just a few slightly overgrown spots. Tread was mostly good, a bit slippery in places, and lacking in switchbacks. Some exposed areas once you reach the top of the ridge.

Highlights. Some ripe of thimbleberries near the start, a large patch of ripe wild strawberries near the top, and plentiful, somewhat ripe blueberries all along the trail. Many wildflowers were still in bloom. No major wildlife.

Bug Status. Lots of buzzing, but no biting bugs to speak of.

Crowds. Encountered one party of hikers, and one party of hunters as we were hiking out. There were some serious-looking berry pickers who got started just ahead of us, but I suspect they continued along the Boundary Trail.

There’s some confusion between the given parameters of this hike and the hike description. The hike described here goes from the Bear Meadow area on FR 99 and runs north to the lookout. According to Romano & Theisen in their “Day Hiking Mount St. Helens” (Mountaineers Books), this is a hike of 4.8 m RT with a gain of 1400 ft. There’s another hike that proceeds north from the Strawberry Mountain trailhead at the end of FR 2516. (These are described separately in the book as “Strawberry Mountain” and “Strawberry Mountain Lookout Site.”) Directions to 2516 are provided by WTA’s entry for this hike in the driving directions from Randle. This trailhead also gives you the option of a much shorter hike to the lookout site, about 1.6 m RT with an elevation gain of 600 ft. To hike the lookout from the FR 2516 trailhead, walk up the old road to the lookout, to the left of the parking area and heading south. You don’t have to go far—just a tenth of a mile or so. Look for a trail on your right angling sharply upwards at an acute angle. This steep trail brings you to a junction in the saddle described by WTA. To your left is the trail coming up from Bear Meadow. Head right, up a mercifully short climb to the lookout site and your fabulous 360 views.

You can head back to the trailhead and call it a day, but why stop now? You’ve only hiked a mile and a half! Proceed north up the trailhead marked for Strawberry Mountain. You can continue along this very long ridge for up to seven miles before you run into private property. Romano & Theisen describe a hike of 8.8 m RT, elevation gain 1700 ft, bringing you astounding views in almost every direction for most of the hike. I went about 3 miles up and turned around, but I’ll be back for more! The wildflowers all along the ridge are gorgeous right now.

A note concerning FR 2516: this is a very rough road, but my Prius sedan managed for most of the way. There are deep trenches and holes, but they don’t span the width of the road, so you can slowly and carefully maneuver around them. It took me about 30 minutes to drive five miles in, where I parked and walked the last mile. This last mile had a short section with a raised center ridge, which might have been too much for my sedan. Anyone with a bit more clearance could easily drive the distance.

We drove in on Road 2516 which has some downed trees that someone has cleared a vehicle-wide path through. The road is not in terrible shape but it has a lot of dips and bumps. We had to park and walk the last 0.4 miles to the trailhead because of impassible snow on the road. I'd guess another week, maybe two, before that snow is melted enough to make the road passable.

Instead of hiking south to the Strawberry Mountain lookout site, we hiked north up through the forest where there were some lingering snow patches and lots of avalanche lilies. Once out into the open meadows we saw paintbrush, penstemon, lupine, wild strawberry, phlox, and other wildflowers. Views included Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens. We could even see distant Mt. Jefferson! We hiked just over two miles from the trailhead then turned back.