Mt. St. Helens: The Blast Zone

A few months ago I completed my goal to climb to the top of Mt. St. Helens. It was an amazing experience but the one thing it didn’t do was give me a close up view of the blast zone located on the opposite side of the mountain. So the other day I took a friend up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory and we did a nice 9 mile hike down to Spirit Lake.

Here’s some photos from the hike:

The Silver Star Grand Tour

The sun decided to come out this weekend so it was the perfect opportunity for some more hiking. I decided to give the Silver Star Grand Tour a shot, which I can easily say is my favorite hike so far. The hike was guided by the Mazamas, which is a Mountaineering organization here in Portland.

Distance: 15 Miles
Elevation Gain: 5,250 Feet

The hike started off at the Starway trailhead, which is not the easiest place to find. It requires driving down dirt roads …

Elk Mountain and King’s Mountain

I knocked another hike off this year’s to do list! The hike was the Elk and King’s Mountain loop in the Oregon Coast Range. Here’s a quick summary of the hike along with some photos.

Distance: 11 Miles
Elevation Gain: 3,700 Feet

This loop is rated as very difficult, so I was expecting it to be fairly steep and rugged. Turns out that’s exactly what this hike is like. Right off the bat, the climb to Elk Mountain was very steep. It reminded me a lot of Mt Defiance only the climb to the summit is shorter (and half the elevation).

I Kicked Ash On Mt St Helens

After weeks of anticipation, I finally got to accomplish my goal of climbing to the top of Mt St Helens. At 8,365 ft, it’s the second tallest mountain I’ve ever climbed. The trip was a success and everyone in our group made it up to the top. Here’s a full trip report of the days events:

Distance: 12 Miles
Elevation Gain: 5,622 Feet

We started the day off by meeting at 5AM at the climber registration office (the Lone Fir Resort). …