Independence Pass Loop, Norway Pass & Boundary Trail — Friday, Sep. 2, 2005

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Since there aren't many reports on this area this will be a long one... The plan for this trip was to begin at the Norway Pass trailhead, hike up along the Boundary trail past Mt Margaret and camp at Margaret camp. Little went according to plan. Due to a spectacularly bad navigation error we doubled the length of our trip. Fortunatley the reroute was equally spectacular in coolness. Drove out to the Norway Pass trail head from Randle on FS25. Arrived at the trailhead to find only four other cars and a tent in the lot. There are restrooms here and water available from an old but working handpump. There is no water between the trailhead and camp, at least in late summer. Trail quickly climbs towards the ridge, gaining about half of the total elevation of the trip in the first mile or two. The first junction is between the Norway Pass trail and Independence pass trail. At this T you go RIGHT to reach the Boundary trail and Norway Pass. The tricky part? Both directions are labeled 'Independence pass' trail. One half of the loop is #227, the other is #227A. We went left. We realized our mistake about 1.5 miles later when we reached the bottom of the Independence loop and saw Spirit Lake with Mt Margaret way over on the far side. By now it was easier to just finish the loop. This half goes high on the ridge above Spirit Lake and the giant log jam. Views of the still steaming volcano the entire way and some very cool rock formations. Here the trail narrows and is eroded in some places. Many parts are similar to Kendall Katwalk. Partway in we found a big rusted axe stuck into the hillside. By now I suspect only the food in my pack was keeping my partners from pushing me over the edge... Eventually we reached Norway Pass and were on the correct route. Encountered a group of day hikers, the first people we had seen the entire trip. The trail climbs from Norway Pass up the hillside and reaches the junction with the Lakes trail. We stayed on the Boundary Trail debating if we would make it to Mt Margaret. The elevation gain is continual here but not too steep. We finally reached Bear Pass and climbed over the last little ridge, descending slightly to Bear Camp and decided to claim this one since nobody else was there. The camp is in a dirt covered clearing with many run-off stream beds snaking around. There is a solar toilet with a wooden fence around it offering only moderate privacy. Two raised tent pads, but they seem poorly sized and you would have to be creative setting up more than one tent on each. We elected to pitch behind some small trees nearby to gain some weather protection. Each tent pad has a small sump for grey water. Water is available in a tiny spring just to the south-west of the lower tent pad. Climb down into the ditch behind camp and look around in the grass here, it's not easy to spot. There is a tiny pool with water pouring out from under a log. Not sure if this will be running in very hot weather. Saturday night the winds were very strong, the campsites offer little protection against wind and weather since the only trees are small. We didn't get much sleep but the tents held. Consider bringing extra stakes and guylines, I think the wind is pretty regular here. Windchill was very bad also. Sunday we dayhiked out to find Mt Margaret camp. The distance seemed much longer than shown on our map. From Bear, climb over a few ridges with long slow switchbacks, then drop to a little valley with the junction to the Whittier trail which is closed. The Boundary trail continues up beneath the rock face of Mt Margaret, giving spectacular views of Spirit Lake, St Helens, and St Helens Lake, then descends towards The Dome and Dome camp. Eventually Margaret Camp is stumbled upon in a big clearing. Half of the door to the toilet is broken. There are also two tent pads here but otherwise the camp is unremarkable. Did not look for water, but supposedly there is another spring here. Hiked back to Bear Camp, stopping briefly to watch the many elk herds in the area and climb partway up Mt Margaret. The wind was rising and clouds looking ominous so we packed out a day early, not wanting to be caught in the wind and rain with no protection. Followed the correct route this time and arrived fairly quickly back at Norway pass. The trails in this area are pretty good overall. Very dusty from ash and a little eroded in places. Many signs are damaged or lying broken on the ground. All are fairly confusing and conflict with eachother in mileage. Check your route carefully. There is no water (at least in late summer) on the trail. You need a permit to camp in the Mt Margaret area, but it is free from the St Helens rangers. You also need a Northwest Forest Pass, which can be bought at the Cascade Peaks viewpoint just down the road from the trailhead if you forgot one. Many more trip photos: http://www.pbase.com/billcat/hiking/