Boundary West, Boundary Trail & Mount Margaret — Friday, Sep. 7, 2001

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Our first trip back to the Norway Pass / Mt. Margaret area in several years (now that the exorbitant fee regime has ended in St. Helens National Volcanic Monument). Revegetation along the trail has proceeded nicely in recent years, with lots of shrubs, some young deciduous trees, and the occasional clumps of young conifers. View are still almost continuous (and shade very sparse). Some berry bushes are still bearing. Some flowers are still in bloom. Lots of fireweed and pearly everlasting. A good bit of paintbrush. Some lupine, mainly at higher elevations. Occasional penstemon and harebells. One ravine about 4 1/2 miles in had a surprisingly good show of pink monkeyflower. The view from Mt. Margaret is panoramic, with great views of St. Helens and its dome, Spirit Lake and its massive collection of logs, nearby St. Helens Lake, and Hood, Adams, Goat Rocks, and Rainier farther distant. An Olympic (probably Olympus) was faintly visible above the shoulder of a nearby mountain. No biting bugs, but lots of flying ants and some flies on Mt. Margaret. Trail in good shape, though a big boulder has planted itself atop the trail on the shoulder of Mt. Margaret, and a few logs have slid down across the tread. No problems bypassing these minor obstructions. In all, still a great place to get some feeling of the magnitude of the 1980 eruption.