Norway Pass Trailhead on the Boundary Trail

Along the way up to Norway Pass, I couldn’t help but stop every so often to pick wild strawberries. They were delicious.

Looking across to Mt Adams in the distance. Meta Lake and Forest road 26 in the foreground.

Upon Reaching Norway Pass, an excellent view of Mt Saint Helens and Spirit Lake reveals itself.

The trail as it climbs above Norway Pass

Sign for the Lakes Trail just below Bear Pass. You would take a right here to do the Mt Whittier Loop counterclockwise. I stayed left which stays on the Boundary Trail. Going this way takes you to the Mt Whittier Trail to do the loop clockwise.

First view on Mt Rainier for the day.

Mt Adams from ridge above Bear Pass

Panorama of Rainier and Adams shot from same spot as previous two pictures

Tent caterpillers.

The wildflowers were amazing. These lupine were very fragrant.

Lupine carpeted much of the ground through this section

The views were simply fantastic!

Flowers, flowers everywhere!

This area took the brunt of the blast, but as you can see it is recovering nicely. The whole area is very green and lush with vegetation.

Mt Margaret in view

The trail crosses the top of the snowfield as it climbs to the saddle seen above the snag. Mt Margaret can be seen in the distance beyond the saddle.

Mt margaret Backcountry Panorama – Mt Margaret left of center just above snag

Snags everywhere are a constant reminder of the great forests that were here before the eruption.

Near the Mt Whittier trail junction looking across to Mt Rainier and Boot Lake below.

Mt Whittier Trail junction advice

Never seen a black diamond trail before.

At this point the trail signs were confusing and if I had not brought the wrong map I would have known which way to go. As I now look at the sign, I can clearly see what looks like an old faded arrow just to the right of the number 2 showing which way to the Whittier trail. I didn’t see the arrow at the time. It was at this point that I ended up going the wrong way, but in retrospect, it was OK because the views going the other way by Mt Margaret were simply amazing….

…views like these flowers

…and these flowers and view of the mountain

….and Spirit Lake and an in your face view of the mountain.

Beauty everywhere you turned. This is looking back at Mt Margaret from about where I turned around. There was a side trail going up Mt Margaret itself but I saved that adventure for next time.

Back at the confusing Mt Whittier trail junction

Heading back down towards Norway Pass

I stopped to get a shot of the logs floating on Grizzly Lake

Grizzly Lake

Looking down at Grizzly Lake

Closer down by Norway Pass, my journey was impeded by all the hucklberry picking

Mt Adams from Norway Pass

Some people describe all the berries they see along the trail and declare they had never seen so many. It was true! I had never seen so many huckleberries. I ate my fill before picking these to take home.

On my drive to Mt Saint Helens in the morning, it had been cloudy all the way from my house until I got into the higher elevations. It cleared out about 15 miles before I got to the trailhead. On my hike back to the car as the sun was going down, the clouds started to roll in.

It was intersting to see how quickly the clouds formed. They were not just being blown in, but were forming right in front of my eyes.

Clouds moving in

Rainier and clouds

Panorama of Rainier to Adams above the Norway Pass trailhead. In a matter of about 10 minutes, this valley went from being clear to completely cloud covered.

Very cool to see the clouds form beneath you

With the sun at my back, the mountain I was hiking down cast a shadow on the cloud below me. All was still and quiet and it was very surreal hiking down into the mist.

Mt Adams and clouds Panorama. The Norway Pass trailhead and my car were waiting below.

Into the mist

Back in my car and on the road home.

Sentinals of the past