While the road is washed out, this hike is a beautiful way to get to the Johnston Ridge Observatory (still closed - no facilities). From my stats, it was 10 miles out and back. Took 2 hours 40 minutes to get to Johnston Ridge, hung out there for an hour, and then back down the trail took 2 hours 20 minutes.
The majority of elevation gain is in the first 3ish miles and once the Hummocks trail joins the Boundary trail, it is really exposed. The temp was in the 70s and it was HOT for those 3 miles. Bring all that water, sun protection, find shade, and take breaks as needed. As you get higher, you'd catch a breeze which felt amazing. The trail gets a little narrow along some scree field crossings.
The wildflowers were abundant and amazing - orange Indian paintbrush, foxglove, daisies, yellow flowers, lupine.
Once at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, it's like you're on a movie set. The wildflowers are taking over the parking lot, there's this amazing mountain in front of you, and it is totally deserted. No other humans were there. We sat in a shady spot and enjoyed the silence and nature's majesty.
As mammals go, we only saw chipmunks on the trail until we were coming down. In an open field area, we saw 3 golden coated coyotes looking to take down a deer. We were higher on a ridge and they disappeared behind a hill so I don't know what happened. We thought the coyotes might be wolves and later learned from Mt. St. Helens staff that they were most likely coyotes.
Also, the WTA site says you need a Northwest Forest parking pass for the trailhead lot. I didn't see signs saying any passes were needed for parking.
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