Updated - October 2011 60 Where, when, and how to discover the best photography in America Published since 1989 M ount St. Helens is the fiftieth-highest point in the State of Washington, and one of the 1,300 volcanoes in the Ring of Fire around the Pacific Rim. Mount St. Helens has been the most active volcano on North America s West Coast, erupting fourteen times in the past four thousand years, with six of those eruptions occurring in the past five hundred years. Mount St. Helens, which sat dormant for 123 years, began to move on March 20, 1980, sending a series of warning earthquakes up from the core. Scientists and vulcanologists from around the world converged to set up seismographs and test instruments, waiting for the big event. First, there was a large release of steam from an opening crater. Then, rising volcanic magma inside the mountain pushed outwards. A huge bulge appeared on the northwest slope of the mountain, Mount St. Helens growing so large that the mountain became unbalanced. It took less than two months before an earthquake triggered an avalanche that released the pressure inside the mountain. At 8:32 am, on Sunday, May 18, 1980, the largest recorded landslide in history, pushed a six-hundred-foot wall of debris northward, scouring out several large lakes and washing everything more than eight-hundred feet up the far side of the valley. When everything settled back down, the surface of Spirit Lake was two-hundred feet higher and filled with logs. A lateral blast flattened forests as far as seventeen miles away. Trees were blown over or snapped in half. The blast of hot gas reached temperatures of 900 F. and was followed by hot mud flows that filled rivers all around the mountain. Roads, bridges, and hundreds of homes, were carried away. The mud raised the level of the Columbia River grounding ocean-going ships. Plumes of ash rose from the crater to block out the sun. There were five more eruptions of ash through the summer and fall of 1980 that rose into the stratosphere and circled the earth.
issue 60 - page 2 Looking toward the crater near the western entrance to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Portland Seattle WASHINGTON Mt. St. Helens OREGON Three months after the eruption of Mount St. Helens, I travelled north on Interstate 5, on my way to a mid-summer photographic workshop in Washington s Olympic Rain Forest. As I neared the small town of Kelso, Washington, just north of the Columbia River, I saw evidence of the awesome power of the recent eruption. Four billion cubic yards of debris had washed down the North Fork of the Toutle River. This avalanche, over five-hundred-feet deep in many places, reached a point fourteen miles downstream from the mountain. Whole forests of uprooted trees, billions of tons of volcanic ash, and all the water from the downstream lakes created a flood that washed down to the Columbia River. Three months later, the sides of the Interstate Highway were banked with gray ash. Gray mud coated tree trunks high above the surface of the highway. I was fifty miles west of the volcano. Twenty years later, I returned to Mount St. Helens to see the changes in the landscape and the ongoing rebirth of the surrounding forests and lakes. I wanted to photograph the new National Volcanic Monument and visit the visitor centers on the mountain. The West Side The western entrance to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is at Exit 49, located in the town of Castle Rock, a two-hour drive south of Seattle and ninety-minutes north of Portland, Oregon. Starting from the Interstate Highway, it s a five-mile drive east to the main Mount St. Helens Visitor Center. This center, open daily through the summer, has many displays explaining the history of the area and the events leading up to the eruption and the regeneration of life after the eruption. If you are entering the monument from the west side, this is a good place to purchase your maps and trail guides. The fastest and easiest route to Mount St. Helens is Highway 504, the old Spirit Lake Highway. The road, with all new bridges, has been rebuilt along a higher ridge route with more open, scenic overlooks. The new pavement stretches fifty-two miles east of Interstate 5 to the end of the road at the Johnston Ridge Observatory and Visitor Center. Driving east on Highway 504, five miles beyond the main visitor center, you pass through the town of Toutle, Washington, where most services, including gasoline, are available. There is no gas available inside the monument. The Hoffstadt Bluff Visitor Center is twenty-six miles east of the Interstate. This facility has food services, books, maps, and gifts, plus helicopter flights to the mountain. I stopped here to photograph the top of Mount St. Helens crater emerging from the low clouds filling the Toutle River Valley. Seven miles east, the Forest Learning Center offers exhibits concerning the logging and replanting of the forests. This
issue 60 - page 3 visitor center sits on the edge of a high cliff with great views from the edge of the blast zone. Using my 400mm lens, I photographed a large herd of elk grazing the edge of the young noble fir forest, down in the valley. I stopped at both the Elk Rock and Castle Lake Viewpoints. The afternoon sky continued to clear and expose the opening of the distant crater. These wide, scenic turnouts are so large that you will find completely different views from each end of the parking areas. The Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center, that opened in 1993, was plagued with maintenance costs and technical problems. Lacking a stable source of funding, the U.S. Forest Service closed the center in 2007, with no plans to re-open. miles south. The Boundary Trail, part of a thirty-mile-long, difficult trail completely circling Mount St. Helens, passes through this overlook. It s less than a mile from the Loowit Viewpoint to the end of the road at the Johnston Ridge Observatory, as close as you can drive to Mount St. Helens from It s been estimated that 1500 elk were killed by the eruption. In the past nineteen years, many elk have returned to repopulate the blast zone. Coldwater Lake was formed in 1980 by the volcanic eruption when the avalanche blocked a stream flowing down a steep-walled valley. The lake is two-hundred feet deep. A trail follows the western shore of the lake and another climbs the ridge on the eastern side. Highway 504 drops down to the level of Coldwater Lake, passes several parking lots at trailheads, then climbs the ridge above the lake, making large, sweeping hairpin turns to reach the top of Johnston Ridge. In the winter, Hwy 504 is closed at Coldwater Lake. The first marked turnout on the right, at the top of Johnston Ridge, is the Loowit Viewpoint. Beyond the paved parking area, a walkway leads out to the precipitous edge of the ridge where you ll find panoramic views across the pumice desert to the open crater of the volcano, six the west side. From the observatory, you will be looking south, directly into the crater. The open mouth of the crater is one-mile across. A paved path leads to a large, brown, bunker-style concrete building, partially buried in the side of Johnston Ridge. Outside, a wide observation platform and a paved sidewalk stretch the length of the building. On the left end of the platform, a series of wooden steps lead up the unpaved Eruption Trail. This half-mile-long trail climbs to the top of the highest viewpoint (4,310 feet) in the area. From up there, I could see in every direction as the clouds began to open. This is where I found the best views of the growing lava dome inside the crater and the best views of the huge pumice plain flowing from the opening. From the top, I photographed the low saddle to the east called The Spillover, where Looking down on the Johnston Ridge Observatory from the Eruption Trail.
issue 60 - page 4 Looking south toward Mount St. Helens from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. From this angle you can see the 1000 tall lava dome inside the open crater. the avalanche carried debris completely over the top of Johnston Ridge. At the end of the Eruption Trail, turn left and return to the far end of the parking lot. Turn right to walk the Boundary Trail. The unpaved Boundary Trail, a section of the loop trail that completely circles Mount St. Helens, follows a high ridge in the direction of Spirit Lake, for a mile before turning south and descending toward the crater. Like many of the trails in the monument, this trail was lined with the small white flowers called pearly everlasting in mid-september. Turn around before starting down the far end of this slope. The downhill section of the trail is very steep and slippery. Inside the observatory, there are displays showing the effects of the eruption, and an interesting relief map that lights up to show the areas affected by the blast, the avalanche, the pyroclastic mud flows, and the floods. There is a large display of seismographs that are constantly monitoring this area as well as all seismic events around the Pacific Rim. Many of the views of Mount St. Helens can be seen from the overlooks along the roads through the monument. Most visitors take their photographs from the edge of the road. Some of the area surrounding the crater is still too dangerous or too delicate for public access. There were no trails into the crater that were open to the public on my last visit. If you want to explore the more remote regions of the monument or want to get as close to the mountain as possible, you will have to do some walking. The Boundary Trail does not cross near the open mouth of the crater but skirts farther to the north, along the edge of the blast zone. There is only one trail that leads down to the edge of Spirit Lake, and two trails that lead across the desolate ash-covered flat plateau below the crater. No connecting roads link the west side s State Highway 504 and the east side s Forest Road 99 (FR99). It takes at least three hours to drive from the Johnston Ridge Observatory to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. It will take at least one day to drive around Mount St. Helens. The East Side To reach the east side of Mount St. Helens from Seattle, head south on Highway 7 through Tacoma, Washington, to the town of Morton, one of the entry points into Mount Rainier National Park. If you are driving north or south on Interstate 5, take Exit 68 and drive Highway 12 through Morton to Randle, Washington, seventeen miles east of Morton. In the center of Randle, turn right at the stop light and head south on Highway 131 crossing the Cowlitz River. This two-lane paved road soon forks. Keep to the right on Forest Road 25 (FR25). From the town of Randle to the Woods Creek Information Center is just over five miles.
issue 60 - page 5 Across the road from the information center is the Woods Creek Watchable Wildlife Site. Drive into the parking area and find the trailhead. A loop trail follows sluggish Woods Creek out to a large wetland where an observation platform provides a view of a network of beaver ponds along the creek. I photographed foxglove, ferns, and stinging nettles along the trail and photographed deer, grouse, and raccoons around the pond since beavers eat and work only during the night. At the far end of the pond, turn left at a fork in the trail and then head right at the next fork. You will enter a dense forest of immense, old-growth red cedar and Douglas fir. The photography was great because of the thick, morning fog across the bottom of the valley. A onemile loop trail winds through the forest and returns to the same junction at the far end of the beaver pond. Several miles farther south on Highway 24, a tall bridge crosses the Cispus River. Park just beyond the bridge, walk back and set up your tripod in the middle of the bridge, facing the rising morning sun as it reflects off the cascades below. Heading south on FR25, watch for the sign marking Iron Creek Falls. It is across the road from a sign warning of the approaching junction of FR99. This spot is 19.5 miles south of the village of Randle. There s a wide, unpaved parking area on the east side of the road. The trail to the falls drops a hundred feet down a long string of wooden steps. Iron Creek Falls shoots out through a notch in the black basalt cliff and falls thirty feet into the middle of a large pool. The dark cliff face makes an excellent background for the bright spray of water. There are several good tripod locations on the near side of the stream. Continue driving south on Forest Road 25, and take the first right turn onto Forest Road 99. A large brown sign marks the turn onto this side road, providing the only access to the eastern side of Mount St. Helens. For several miles, the road passes through lush, old growth red cedar and Douglas fir groves. This part of the forest was just far enough away from the volcano to survive the blast and the shock wave of hot gasses. The first marked turnoff at Bear Meadows, on the left side of FR99, offers an excellent view of Mount St. Helens in the distance, framed by Douglas firs. This is the first viewpoint of the mountain along this eastern access road. From this angle, you ll see the best light on the mountain in the early morning. There is an informational sign at the viewpoint with a description of Seattle photographer, Gary Rosenquist s experiences on the morning of May 18, 1980. I put my camera on its tripod and photographed the beautiful sunrise shining against the mountain. I left my camera on the tripod still facing the mountain. Shortly before 8:30 am, my friend Willy peered through his binoculars and said Iron Creek Falls
issue 60 - page 6 An example of the untouched old-growth forests standing just beyond the Blast Zone surrounding Mount St. Helens. the mountain looks fuzzy. So I took a picture. Minutes later, while I was standing with my back towards the mountain, Willy yelled the mountain s going! I dashed to my camera and accidentally bumped it as I reached out. Luck was with me as the camera was aimed perfectly. The sight of the avalanche sliding off the mountain was so overwhelming that I became dizzy and had to turn away to keep my balance. I turned to look at the eruption again. All my energy was focused through the lens of my camera as I watched the scene unfold like a silent movie. I never heard the blast. Somehow I managed to take twenty-two pictures in about thirty seconds. I grabbed my camera and ran for the car. The turbulent cloud loomed behind us as we sped down FR99. We raced toward Randle as marble-sized mud balls flattened against the windshield. Minutes later it was completely dark. We groped through the choking ash cloud to safety. Taking with us a moment in time. In 1980, several months after the eruption, I heard an interview on the radio with Gary Rosenquist. He said that he was able to capture the mountain at the exact instant of its eruption because he had already set the ten-second self-timer on his Canon AE-1. The volcano blew just as the shutter opened. He reached for the camera but the shutter had already gone off. After making twenty-two exposures, he and his friend ran for their van to outrun the rapidly approaching cloud of hot gas and the rain of pumice stones. He described the thirty-mile drive down the mountain in almost total darkness while trying to breath. They barely survived. Gary hand-delivered his undeveloped film to the back door of a Seattle newspaper that evening. They waited several days before processing the film to discover the unique images. Within weeks, Gary Rosenquist earned a small fortune from sales of his images. The scene you can photograph from the Bear Meadow Viewpoint is very similar to the image that Gary made. The mountain is smaller than it was before erupting but, luckily for Gary Rosenquist, the Bear Meadow Viewpoint was just beyond the blast zone. Eleven miles away, the forest was barely damaged at this point. Not far beyond Bear Meadow, the road toward the mountain enters a wasteland of still-standing dead trees. Along the edge of the Clearwater Valley, there is a paved parking area at a spot called The Edge. This is on the edge of the blast zone. You can see a living forest standing behind this ridge and nothing but devastation looking southwest, toward the crater. Beyond this paved turnout, there are several more wide spots along the road with even better viewpoints. There are wide places to park along most of the turns on the road above Clearwater Valley.
issue 60 - page 7 On the day I arrived, the hillside was covered with brightly-colored wildflowers below a steep slope covered with the still-standing trunks of a dead forest. Climbing steeply toward the north, the road to Ryan Lake follows the edge of a valley that is covered with fallen trees. Every tree was uprooted and dropped in perfect alignment with the direction of the blast. Most trees were torn from the ground and shattered. Many ancient Douglas firs that were up to six-feet in diameter were simply snapped off halfway up the trunk. In every direction, as far as the eye can see, the fallen forest has been left to decompose and return to the soil. Some areas around the mountain were salvage logged. The fallen forests lying inside the boundary of the national Volcanic Monument were left to decompose and aid in the regeneration of a new forest. The only food service facility along east side road (FR99) sits on the edge of the Cascade Peaks Viewpoint. Burgers, cold drinks, coffee, and pretzels are the highlights on their menu. Maps, guidebooks, and t-shirts are available in the shop. There are no campgrounds, lodgings, or other services available here or elsewhere along FR99. Spirit Lake was once surrounded by a dense forest. Lodges and campgrounds around the lake were favorite summer retreats for visitors from Portland and Seattle. When evacuations of the Mount St. Helens area were ordered by National Forest officers because of tremors, venting, and the imminent eruption of the mountain, some residents refused to leave. Harry R. Truman, the crusty old owner of the Mount St. Helens Lodge on the edge of Spirit Lake, stubbornly remained. The landslide sent an avalanche of debris that scoured out Spirit Lake washing all the water, mud, and trees about eight-hundred feet up the far side of the valley. When everything washed back down into the lake, the level of the lake was raised by two hundred feet. Harry was never found. Several trails through the area were named for Harry Truman. Harmony Viewpoint overlooks the north end of Spirit Lake. Cedar Creek and Donnybrook Viewpoints overlook the center of this once-beautiful blue lake. From the overlooks above, you can see thousands of floating logs, partially covering the surface of the lake. These were blown down by the blast and carried into the lake by the avalanche. Walk down to the edge of Spirit Lake by following the Harmony Trail, the only access to the lake. This trail can be found at the edge of the parking lot called Harmony Overlook, named for Harmony Falls which once dropped through the forest into the north end of Spirit Lake. Harmony Trail, down to the edge of Spirit Lake, is a 2.4 mile round-trip hike to the lake and back. From the top of the trail, the individual logs floating on the surface Along the Road to Ryan Lake. Forests flattened by the eruption still lie, pointing away from the blast.
issue 60 - page 8 Near the bottom of the trail to Spirit Lake. Most of the lake visible in this photo is covered with floating logs. of Spirit Lake can barely be discerned. They look like a solid gray surface from over a mile away. The trail makes several switchbacks and follows the side of the steep north-facing slope before edging along an undercut cliff where a small garden of wildflowers cluster beneath a waterfall dripping down a moss-covered rock wall. At the bottom of the six-hundred-eighty-foot descent, the trail crosses a wide, flat dusty desert of pumice above the edge of the lake. Down the last hundred yards to the bottom, the trail follows the edge of Harmony Creek. The creek still drops over a few falls and cascades before reaching the lake. The view up the stream is a strange sight with no living trees visible anywhere. The Harmony Falls Lodge once sat on the edge of the lake, just beyond the bottom of these falls. The lake level was two hundred feet lower and Harmony Falls had to be much more impressive. It may take several hundred more years before the forest returns and everything is as it once was. We can watch the gradual changes occur as a dead forest returns to the Earth and nourishes the birth of the next. Nature photographers can become photo journalists as they walk the new trails and record the events. From the top of the trail, it took thirty minutes to reach the edge of Spirit Lake. The edge of the lake was hard to find because of all the fallen logs. I knew I had reached the waterline when the logs I walked across started to move up and down. When the wind is blowing from the east, all the logs drift to the other side of the lake, leaving this eastern shoreline at the bottom of the trail exposed. My 24mm wide-angle lens was perfect for a vertical composition stretching from close-ups of the silver-gray patterns on weathering logs to the top of the cloud-capped volcanic crater. Hikers are restricted to an area of several hundred feet along the shoreline. The number of logs is overwhelming. They will be left to decompose into the lake. After an hour of shooting the driftwood on Spirit Lake, it took me forty-five minutes to walk back up to the trailhead. At the end of FR99 is a large parking lot and the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. This is the last viewpoint along the paved road and the closest that you can drive your car on the east side of the mountain. From the overlook, there s a wonderful view of the eastern side of the broken peak and the pumice plain spreading northward. Below the overlook lies the south end of Spirit Lake. From the Windy Ridge Viewpoint, you can see the path of the avalanche and the debris that was pushed up the far side of the valley. For a better view, climb the four-hundred-twenty-six wooden stairs to the top of Windy Ridge. These stairs are a great improvement over the old steel cables
issue 60 - page 9 and wooden rungs that were called a sand ladder. The pumice-covered slopes are slippery. At the top is an observation platform at 4,230 feet with a more spectacular view than you ll see from the edge of the parking area below. Wear a windbreaker jacket, pack light, and be sure to take your widest lens. It s the perfect location for a panoramic camera. If you take it slowly and stop frequently to look around, it should take less than fifteen minutes to climb to the top. Up there, you ll have a spectacular view of the open crater and the growing lava dome in the center. For more views of Spirit Lake, continue walking northeast one mile along the ridge, following the Independence Pass Trail to the Donnybrook Viewpoint and Trailhead. This trailhead is located on FR99. You can use a car shuttle or walk back along the edge of the road to your starting point at the Windy Ridge Viewpoint Parking Lot. Follow this trail in the other direction, from the Donnybrook Viewpoint to the Windy Ridge Parking Lot, and enjoy mostly downhill travel. The paved road (FR99) ends at the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. On foot, you can get a lot closer to the edge of Mount St. Helens. At the south end of the parking lot, walk around the locked gate to the beginning of the Truman Trail. The round trip hike is three-and-a-half miles. The trail follows a wide, unpaved service road, an extension of FR99, along the eastern side of the Windy Ridge. Along the trail, there are some spectacular views looking downward toward Smith Creek Canyon where volcanic mud flows completely wiped out the entire forest. The first half of the trail climbs gradually and then descends slightly to a clear viewpoint at the junction of the Truman Trail and the Plains of Abraham Trail. It s an easy walk. As you walk along the trail, you can see the broad, snow-covered slopes of Mount Adams to the east and directly south, across the Columbia River, the sharp peak of Mount Hood, two more dormant volcanoes in the Ring of Fire. At the far end of the Windy Ridge, a view to the west opens and suddenly the pumice-covered slopes of the broken cone of Mount St. Helens loom up directly above you. For a photographer, this has to be one of the best vantage points around Mount St. Helens. As I drove back down FR99, I stopped a mile from the end of the road where the forest is mostly large old-growth red cedars and Douglas firs that were far enough away to survive the blast of the volcanic eruption. These ancient forests look beautiful when the rays of morning sunlight stream down through the branches. Any direct sunlight through these woods is too contrasty and too harsh to photograph without shooting multiple bracketed exposures to create HDR images. Looking toward the northwest from the Windy Ridge Viewpoint. Spirit Lake lies below a wide plain of pumice. The avalanche from the erupting volcano flowed from left to right pushing debris over Johnston Ridge.
issue 60 - page 10 A few miles south of Randle, on FR25, a tall bridge crosses the Cispus River. Park just beyond the bridge, walk back and set up your tripod in the middle of the bridge, facing the rising morning sun as it reflects off the cascades below. A wet and drizzly day is the best time to work the wide turnouts along the road through these groves. It rained several days during my week on Mount St. Helens, so I had several opportunities to return when the lighting was perfect. Overcast days beneath a diffusing cloud cover are excellent opportunities for photographing in the woods or hiking the trails. The South Side Many visitors skip the south side of Mount St. Helens because the views from the south lack the spectacle of the open crater that s only visible from the north side of the mountain. South side roads lead up the mountain to trails that will take you to the edge of the blast zone and across old lava flows and a pumice desert. One of the trails leads to a two-mile-long lava cave. Most of the south-side trails are rated as moderately strenuous to Difficult. There are three easy trails that can be hiked in one day. The Trail of Two Forests is a fourhundred-yard-long boardwalk loop that skirts the edges of a young, regenerated forest and an ancient lava flow of twelve-hundred years ago. There are several large tree molds formed by hot lava flowing through a forest. You can see patterns in the lava left by tree bark. This trail is located nine miles northeast of the town of Cougar, Washington. The Ape Cave Trail is located on the same road, one mile beyond the Trail of Two Forests. The Ape Cave, named for a 1920s sighting of a Bigfoot creature in this area, is the longest, continuous lava tube in the world. Explore both the Upper and the Lower Caves on your own or take a ranger-led tour, using their rental lanterns. The 12,810- foot cave is made up of an upper and a lower gallery. The shorter, lower gallery is easier to walk because of the flat, sandy floor. You must return the same way you enter the cave. In some places, the cave is over forty-feet wide. The black walls make flash photography difficult, especially in the Big Room that is seventy feet wide and thirty feet high. There are no stalactites or colorful minerals dripping from the ceiling. The Goat Marsh Trail leads to a reflection of Mount St. Helens in a large lake. From the town of Cougar, you can reach Goat Marsh by heading north on FR81 to the Kalama Horse Camp, or you can continue north on FR83, past the Ape Cave Trailhead to FR81. Turn north on FR8223 and drive a half-mile to the marked trailhead. You will need a trail map to follow the several forks in the trail. It s less than a mile from the car park to the edge of the very large marsh and lake. Make your way around to the west side of the lake and follow the trail to the viewpoint on the edge of the lake. Lily pads, marsh grasses, and the remains of beaver-chewed trees, make a great foreground for a panoramic photograph of Mount St. Helens.
issue 60 - page 11 Mosquitoes around the marsh can be a problem. Bring your repellent. Some of the roads that lead out to other trailheads on the south side of Mount St. Helens are rough and unpaved. The three trails listed above are fairly short and only moderately strenuous. If you plan to explore more of the south side of Mount St. Helens, stop in at the US Forest Service office in Cougar, Washington, or any of the other locations, and purchase the USFS District Map of the monument. To reach the town of Cougar, Washington leave Interstate 5 at Woodland, Washington, via Exit 21 and drive thirty miles east on Highway 503. Cougar has two gas stations, several small motels, a restaurant, and a grocery store. The nearest large town, with all the services you may need is Kelso, Washington, fourteen miles south of the town of Castle Rock, and twenty miles north of Woodland, on Interstate 5. After a week of photographing, I headed east, into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. From Randle, I drove two miles south on FR131 and turned left at the fork onto the road marked FR23, the Cispus Road. Three miles beyond the sign marking the boundary of the National Forest, there is a sign marking the left turn onto a steep, unpaved logging road that climbs two miles up the mountain to Layser Cave. This cave, rediscovered in 1982, had been inhabited for over three thousand years by prehistoric people. Many stone tools and primitive throwing sticks, called atlatls, were found in the cave. There is a great view from the edge of the trail looking up the deep river valley. Early summer mornings fill the sky with pink light which reflects on the mists rising from the Cispus River far below the overlook. If you ve got at least a half-day available for this journey into the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, continue eastward, beyond Camp Creek Falls, along the Cispus River on FR23 for another thirty miles or so. You will reach a signed junction where you ll leave FR23 and turn left onto FR2329. From there, it s a short drive to the edge of Takhlakh Lake where, in the late afternoon, you will find a perfect reflection of Mount Adams in a large, tree-lined, blue lake. Park near the picnic grounds and set up your tripod on the edge of the water. A one-mile trail circles the lake. You can easily find the best location here for a beautiful composition with only a short walk from your car. My best sunset photos of Mount St. Helens were taken along Highway 504, looking southeast toward the crater. For sunrise photography, head up the east side of the mountain, along Forest Road 99. Clearwater Valley along The Edge.
A view of the crater fron the Truman Trailhead Heading back toward Randle on FR23, watch for the sign pointing out the left turn to the Cispus Learning Center. Drive west several miles, past the learning center, following the signs to the alternate route back to FR25. This road, along the south side of the Cispus River winds through a dense, moss-covered rain forest of huge red cedars and Douglas firs. Even the old maples are giants. Everything is draped with hanging moss. At FR25, turn right toward Randle or turn left toward FR99 and the drive up the eastern side of Mount St. Helens. motels and campgrounds There are several small, inexpensive motels in both Randle and Cougar. There are a few more along Highway 504 on the drive into the western side of the monument. A larger selection of motels, restaurants, and all other services are in the town of Kelso, Washington. If you are planning photo trips to both Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier, consider staying overnight half-way between both areas. Several good motels are in the small town of Packwood, Washington. There are no campgrounds inside the boundary of the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Most campgrounds are located on the south side of the mountain, in the Cougar area. The Seaquest State Park Campground is located across the street from the main visitor center along the western entrance (Highway 504) into the monument, five miles east of Interstate 5. Every year more trails and more roads are opened in the monument. You can sign up for ranger-led hikes and commercial helicopter flights into the crater. Have a great trip and send me an email! My life-long career in photography began at San Jose State University in 1957. After college, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, serving as a photographer and darkroom technician. In Germany, my skills and experience with equipment and lab work were developed and polished. I took the opportunity to photograph the beauty of nature in the Black Forest. Returning to California in 1965, I produced industrial and military training films for Raytheon Electronics and began showing my color nature prints. From 1969 through 1981, my photography was exhibited and sold in West Coast galleries. During the early 1980 s, I taught color darkroom workshops, then expanded to include field trips. Former customers, who had purchased my framed photographs, wanted to learn photography. My Pacific Image Photography Workshops offered adventures to the Pacific Coast, the Southwest deserts, national parks, Hawaii, New England, Canada, England, and the South Pacific. The workshops evolved into writing and sharing my adventures with others. Photograph America Newsletter provides information on where, when, and how to discover the best nature photography in North America. Photograph America Newsletter is published quarterly (four issues/year) by Robert Hitchman assisted by technical associate/wife, Katherine Post Office Box 86, Novato, CA 94948-0086 1-415-898-9677 www.photographamerica.com All contents of this newsletter copyright 1989-2016 Robert Hitchman Please don t make copies for your friends. This is a violation of Federal copyright laws. This newsletter survives on subscriptions.