Mt. St. Helens - Windy Ridge

The trip to Windy Ridge had us driving east to Randle and going south on Forest Service Road 25. Just a river along FSR 25.

My parents were on the trip with us.

The bridge over the river was wooden!

This temporary bridge was made across Benham Creek. Look at all the damage from mudslides.

We turned onto FSR 99 towards Windy Ridge and stopped at a view point called Bear Meadow.

Mt. St. Helens from Bear Meadow.

Telephoto

We stopped at another point and we could see Mt. Hood in OR. Notice the Noble Fir tree on the right. The pine cones stand straight up and almost look like birds perching on the branches.

Wildflowers along the way.






We stopped at a viewpoint called Cascade Peaks and saw three of the highest peaks in the Cascades.

This "motorhome" had foreign plates.

At Windy Ridge, we climbed to the top of these stairs.

Dad and I halfway up.

Are they ever going to end? We each counted the steps on the way down but didn't get the same number. It's between 434 and 450.

Once at the top of the stairs, we walked the trail to the viewpoint.

String the following pictures together and you would have a panoramic shot of what it looked like from the top.
Part of Mt. St. Helen on the right.

Rest of Mt. St. Helen and some of Spirit Lake.

Still Spirit Lake.

Rafts of logs were trees that were blown into the lake when Mt. St. Helens blew.

A trail leading from the viewpoint.

Mt. Rainier as seen from Windy Ridge.

This flower is Fox Glove.