SHEEP CANYON

I've been curious about Sheep Canyon at Mt St Helens for a long time. In recent years the storms that have raged through that area have changed the terrain and sometimes eliminated access to roads and trails. I made it a point to hike part of the Sheep Canyon trail this summer just in case this season's storms prevent my doing so next season.

In keeping with the theme of road closures we found a locked gate across the last two miles of gravel road leading to the trailhead. This meant we had a two mile walk to even begin our hike. No worries, we didn't think much of it. The closed road was in excellent condition and we couldn't understand it's closure. Were they planning to pave it? Hey, that would be great! The large machinery at roadside were clues that they were still working.

After arriving at the trailhead we got our answer to why the road is closed. The storm damage of the last few years has buried the area under many, many feet of sand and rock. Where was the trail?? I read and reread the notes from Sullivan's book. It took awhile but we found the trail behind the nearly buried trailhead sign. I've seen snow this deep lots of times but not sand and rocks. Wow! The terrain there will never be the same.

We weren't on the trail for more than a few minutes and we came across a tree frog chilling out at the edge of the trail. He was lime green and looked like he was wearing Ray Ban's. He stood out well against the light gray sand. Nancy and I took a few photos. I got close enough to see his little hands, so cute!

Jodi noticed some fresh and glistening bear scat. The path made it hard to find any tracks but we didn't take any chances and instead began calling out to any bears that might be around. We saw several more scats, though not fresh. We never saw the bear but I suspect it was nearby keeping a very low profile while we passed through. Elk and coyote scat were spotted as well.

The trail was forested most of the way. I noticed that some of the flowers were early ones and some were done and going away. It felt like we were walking through different ecosystems in a matter of minutes.

We lunched at a creek with a small bridge crossing. That was my favorite spot on the trail. Not because of lunch, well, lunch was welcome that day, but because it felt cool and the gentle sound of the creek was relaxing.

This trail didn't offer as many views of Mt St Helens as I thought it would, though the views we saw were grand and impressive.

Having to walk the road to the trailhead added four miles to our day. Our 8 mile hike turned into 12 miles. My new boots, not quite broken in, were vandalizing my baby toes...ouch! Thoughts of Burgerville kept us distracted until we finally made it to the car and could sink our weary feet into our sandals.

But our day wasn't over. We came across a lost and limping dog on a lonely forest road and stopped to help. No collar, no way to know where the pup was from. Jodi made a water dish by cutting her empty Gatorade bottle and the pooch soaked it up with zest. No luck finding owners at a nearby campground so we took him/her to Burgerville with us. Jodi was kind enough to let the pooch spend the night at her house. In the morning she got a call that was prompted by her craig's list note. Chaz, the springer spaniel with the limp, was reunited with his owner. I think that's a pretty nice ending to the story...

Bird Creek Meadows at Mt Adams

This is what it feels like when you see the view at Hellroaring Viewpoint at Mt Adams!

The hike to Bird Creek Meadows was the last of my three hikes planned with my friends. By far, this was the best group I've hiked with in the many years I've been hiking. I was joined by 'Boyer', Kristina, Danielle, and Lin. Everybody enjoyed every footstep of the trail.

Though most of the flowers were done blooming we still had just enough splashes of color to fill our senses. Itty bitty A-frame toilet huts came in handy. Crooked Creek Falls spilled over into the Crooked Creek and we took lots of pictures there. I think Facebook will see many of these photos. After reaching Hellroaring Viewpoint we continued on attempting to find Iceberg Lake. We didn't find the lake and opted to turn back to make it to Hood River in plenty of time to enjoy a cone at Mike's Ice Cream.

Plains of Abraham

I had delayed the plan to hike to Plains of Abraham when I learned that the black flies were voracious during the week I was planning to go. The later date meant most of the flowers were gone though the view and the terrain were intriguing enough without the color of wildflowers.

The Muddy River is truly muddy. Watching it spill over the ledge you could see there was nothing clear about that water. It looked like milk chocolate pudding, really. We hung out at Plains of Abraham to enjoy the view, the top of Mt St Helens in front of us and the lush forest to our left and the distinct line where the forest ends and the rock begins. It must be a geologists dream up there.

We ran into Jodi's neighbor on the trail. This came as a complete surprise. There are miles and miles of trails and we ended up on the same one, small world!

HORSESHOE MEADOW

Horseshoe Meadow at Mt Adams is another place that's been on my list for a long time. I made a plan to hike to the meadow and invited a few friends to join me. I was joined by Will and Mary Taylor and their dogs Molly and Rosie and another friend Joan.

We ascended gradually through lush forest. Most of the wildflowers had gone to seed but we did score a few fine specimens of tiger lily. The bugs were tolerable and I'm confident the bugs will be history very soon. The lupine was more abundant as got closer to the meadow. No views of Mt Adams till we reached the meadow. It was worth the walk to get there.

Curious, energetic and exploratory Rosie made a party of the trail. Mollie sauntered with her usual dignity and casualness. Funny how having dogs along can make the hike more fun!