23.5 miles of hiking • 5000' elevation gain •
Picked nearly the longest day of the year for another megaloop (by my standards, at any rate) in the blast zone. Given how late the sun would be up, we got a lazy start around 9:30 at the Coldwater Lake boat launch. Best trailhead restrooms anywhere.
The lake was calm and reflective as we walked along its north shore. Foxglove and daisies were putting on an incredible show, with lots of other color spots (esp. monkeyflower) along the way. The waterfall crossing about halfway up the shoreline was trivial. Mountainkat saw a bear(!) near the beaver pond.
After crossing the Coldwater Creek inlet, we began the steamy climb up to the bulldozer on the side of South Coldwater Ridge. Trail was quite overgrown with lots of salmonberry and other stickery stuff. Got through with only a few real bleeders, which was good. The bulldozer is rapidly disappearing into the alder. The recovery is strong on this shielded side of the ridge.
Continuing on, we enjoyed a magnificent view at the "blue rock overlook." It was enhanced by a magnificent double rainbow around the sun! Quite the show. After crossing the saddle and pointing ourselves in the general direction of Coldwater Peak, we ran into four friends from the PH FB group. Fun!
Just a few snow fields as we crossed over to Saint Helens Lake. Nothing that couldn't easily be walked across or around. The views from atop Coldwater Peak were phenomenal, as usual. Seemed the flowers up there had taken a bit of a pummeling from late-season snows, though.
Debated scaling Harry's Ridge ("pad the stats!") on the way down towards JRO, but when we realized it was already 5:00pm and 10 more miles lay ahead, that plan was quickly scuttled. The paintbrush and lupine are really the stars of the show this year. Penstemon was not as prolific as it commonly is. Good flower show, overall, between Devil's Elbow to a bit beyond JRO, but not spectacular.
Finished up through the Hummocks and back to the TH by about 8:30. Really great day in the blast zone!
