Meta Lake, Harmony Falls — Sunday, Sep. 13, 2009

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

The Spirit Lake/Harmony Falls hike was well worth the effort to get there from Camas, Wa. We headed out at 10:00 am and figured we would be at the trailhead by noon. Nope. It seems it was a Biker Rally weekend of sorts, both motorized and pedaled bikes, all over the hills leading up to the trailhead. Two accidents with ambulance calls of bikers who laid down their hogs, not used to the sharp turns and uneven grades on the roads (NFR 23 and 99). The Harmony Falls trail is mildly steep, boarderline between tennis shoes and hiking boots. It decends into a zone where the winds of the eruption had a force of 300 mph. A few dead trees were standing on sheltered hillsides, and nothing else but wildflowers and low bushes. Indian paint brush was abundant, as was the late crop huckleberries. The lake itself with its two mile long log debris field is very impressive, especially how the log debris field flows from the wind. The name Spirit lake brings to mind the spirit of the old lake, the Boy Scout camp, the lodges and their inhabitants, now 200 feet beneath the surface. Harmony falls were just a trickle but nice anyway. The hike back was mild cardiac but we were in the parking lot in 45 minutes. Not bad for two 50 plus kids. We also stopped at Meta lake on the way back, and admired the lake view and the finely decked out mushrooms.