I'm putting the END of this trip at the beginning of this trip report, because it was by far the most fun (and most unique) part of the day:
(The bike ride was about 14 minutes long, but the video is only 2:25.)
This came about because I've been wanting to summit Coldwater Peak as part of a loop hike, but I thought 20 miles sounded like a bit much. However, hiking from the South Coldwater Trailhead to Johnston Ridge Observatory (with a detour to the top of Coldwater Peak) — or vice versa — would only be about 14 miles, which is very doable. A car shuttle seemed like it'd be wasteful with only two people... so we drove to JRO, left our bicycles there, drove back down to Coldwater, and then hiked uphill. (Another option, of course, would have been hitchhiking.)
On our way up the ridge on the south side of Coldwater Lake, we had to endure the Plague of Frogs. There were so many 1-inch-long frogs on the trail that it was really difficult to avoid stepping on them! This one didn't want to sit still for his close-up:
Coldwater Peak was our goal for the day. Yay, clear skies!
Hmm, skies aren't quite as clear to the west. But hopefully that's just left over marine layer crud from the morning... right?
Tamiko tried to take the big log-wincher thing (a "yarder," apparently) for a spin:
Not the last lupine standing, but close to it:
Minnie Peak wore a necklace of cloud fragments:
Getting closer to Coldwater Peak now... which was really deceiving, because we had to go about 180° around it before finally ascending!
From the junction of the South Coldwater and Coldwater trails, there's a nice view of St. Helens Lake:
Finally on top of Coldwater Peak (after a surprisingly arduous 3/4-mile summit trail), we had a nice view of the whole Mt. Margaret Backcountry.
Views in the other direction, however, were completely socked in. (I'd post a photo looking south toward Mt. St. Helens, but if you just visualize a blank piece of white paper, you'll get the idea.) Even our views southeast toward Spirit Lake started deteriorating as the clouds wrapped around us from behind:
Heading south on the Boundary Trail, we went through an arch in the big chunk of orangish rock on the right side of this next photo. (Coldwater Peak is disappearing into the clouds on the left.)
The volcano remained mostly hidden all the way to JRO, but the pumice plain looked cool in the late-afternoon light:
We saw some nice Jesus Rays shining down on the south side of Johnston Ridge:
At the observatory, while getting ready for the wheeled segment of our journey, the clouds thinned a little bit, and this is the most we saw of MSH:
I wasn't too upset about it; I've seen the crater before. I felt bad for the tourists though.
And then we got on our bikes and cruised downhill, which we agreed was WAY more fun than 6 additional miles of hiking!
Last edited by adamschneider on August 5th, 2019, 3:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Awesome! I love bike shuttles. We should have a dedicated thread for such trips. Such a great way to make a loop or avoid an out and back. Just need the right combo of trailheads!
cfm wrote:Awesome! I love bike shuttles. We should have a dedicated thread for such trips. Such a great way to make a loop or avoid an out and back. Just need the right combo of trailheads!
This was the perfect combo: there was NO elevation gain from Johnston Ridge to South Coldwater. We pedaled a little at the end to keep our speed up (because going fast is fun!), but it was still slightly downhill.
Earlier this summer I did Opal Creek as a bike-'n'-hike. We biked in 2.5 miles on the gravel road, locked them up at the Kopetski Bridge, and then hiked 6 miles round-trip to Opal Pool and Cedar Flat.
I've thought about using a bike to cut 3 miles off the Elk/Kings loop in the Coast Range, but I don't know if I want to ride my bike on Highway 6...
adamschneider wrote: (Another option, of course, would have been hitchhiking.)
Not recommended - I tried that at peak rush hour away from JRO on a Sunday after doing the same loop. Hundreds of cars passed me without stopping, as I look as a cross between an ax murderer and Osama bin Laden. The TSA and US Immigration are of exactly the same opinion. Just as I was giving up, a very kind Pakistani doctor who works in Spokane stopped and gave me a ride back to my car. So unless you have less threatening looks than me, just hike it!
PS: Younger people of the opposite sex may have better luck getting a ride!
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…
Just as I was giving up, a very kind Pakistani doctor who works in Spokane stopped and gave me a ride back to my car. So unless you have less threatening looks than me, just hike it!
