Goat Marsh from Kalama Horse Camp

8.7 miles of hiking • 1250' elevation gain •

It was a very warm day today but we needed to stay close to home since we started out so late. This area of Mt. St. Helens is only about 1 hour from home so it fit the time requirement. The Kalama Horse Camp had very few people in it, so it looked like we wouldn't be seeing many people. In fact, we only saw people within a few 1/10ths of a mile of the horse camp on our return from the hike!

We were sweating quite a bit during our hike out to Goat Marsh, and I was hoping it would be a bit cooler with all the water. The forest around the marsh is quite a bit more lush and dense than the dry trail that leads to the area. Thankfully, the Goat Marsh area must have been a good 10 degrees or more cooler then the start of the hike! It was definitely nature's air conditioning! Unfortunately, I have never see the marsh water level so low. The first view of the marsh surprised me with how little water remained on the east side of this area. Only a small pool of water remained, and it smelled bad. Fortunately, we hiked around to the larger body of water nearest to Goat Mt., and the water level was quite a bit higher! There were also some nice views of Mt. St. Helens!