Harry's Ridge Sunset Hike at Mt St Helens

 We went down to the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center on the northwest side Mt St Helens for a sunset hike up to Harry's Ridge. This is an 8 miles round trip with about 800 ft of overall elevation gain. Lots of wild flowers in bloom!

We took the Boundary Trail #1 from the east end of the parking lot. This trail has lots of great views of Mt St Helens and Pumice Plain below.

 An abundance of paintbrush in bloom

I like this section of the Boundary Trail, it seems like you are hiking straight to the volcano

 It is a very steep trail, and after a heavy rain, it is best to call the rangers for conditions, as this section of the trail sometimes gets washed away.

View from around the corner: Mt Adams beyond Spirit Lake on the left, Mt St Helens to the right

 From here the Boundary Trail turns north (looking back to the south, more wildflowers!) and for the next mile or so, we would not see Mt St Helens











The Boundary Trail goes along the west base of Harry's Ridge, before reaching the 1 mile spur trail up Harry's Ridge

 Near the beginning of climbing up Harry's Ridge, we had views of Mt Adams and Spirit Lake

 Mt St Helens beginning to peek over Harry's Ridge












zoom of Mt Hood to the south

Pano from Harry's Ridge looking east to south

The sun set to the west as we were atop Harry's Ridge

 We enjoyed the changing colors in the sky, to the east: Mt Adams

and to the south: Mt St Helens

We stayed out, watching the red moon rising in the east, before returning along the trail with our headlamps on as the stars shone, and the clouds descended. Fabulous experience!

We enjoyed some wild strawberries on the trail. And more wildflowers: