words, video, and photos by David Lamb
Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, spewing millions of tons of ash and volcanic rock 80,000 feet into the atmosphere. An avalanche of volcanic mud came down the mountain and inundated the Lewis River, ripping trees from their branches and killing millions of aquatic animals. When the dust finally settled, 57 people had been killed and 230 square miles of forest had been leveled. Like Chernobyl or Hiroshima, flora and fauna have reclaimed the landscape, and it has been restored to its former beauty, 44 years later
Ape Canyon is in good shape as always. The trail is well taken care of but steep as ever. The Plains of Abraham and Windy Ridge are also in good shape but devoid of water. There is runoff along the pavement section between Windy Ridge and the Boundary trail, but I didn’t anticipate this and was rationing water a bit too much until that point.
Boundary Trail is just as brutal as I remembered it. I counted just under a dozen blowdowns, nothing too outrageous but inconvenient nonetheless. It must have taken me about four hours to get to Badger Lake. Badger still has snow, but the water is clear and great for rinsing off at the end of a long day
Craggy Oeak is tough, especially the descent. The initial descent off Craggy Peak feels treacherous, with narrow and bumpy singletrack offering little margin for error. Once you get down off the peak, the trail becomes deep and rutted from OHV use, and the tree roots create drops in the trail that necessitate a dropper post.
The Lewis River Trail is in great shape. I think I counted two or three blowdowns total. The water is ice cold. Even on an 85-degree day, jumping in shocked my senses. The final pavement stretch back to Swift Reservoir had some traffic, which was disappointing but worth it to hit that store and get a couple of beers at the end. Great ride overall. I give it a 9/10!
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