Life In The Blast Zone -- 19 Years Later, Backpackers See Signs Of Rebirth -- Mount Margaret Backcountry If You Go

Nineteen years after Mount St. Helens erupted, the Forest Service re-opened part of the volcano's blast zone to backpackers.

There were times during our four-day trip when we wondered whether it should have.

The Mount Margaret Backcountry is rugged terrain, still covered by the mud and ash the 1980 eruption deposited and the bleached bones of the forest it mowed down. Evergreens are rare. A tree or bush big enough to create shade can be as welcome as an oasis in the Sahara.

And the new trail between the head of Coldwater Lake and the high lakes to the east is perhaps the most grueling, treacherous trail I've hiked. It climbs unrelentingly: 2,000 feet in three miles (or four, depending on which map or sign you believe).

The trail already is badly eroded in spots, slippery with pumice and ash. Dropoffs are steep. The hike down is nearly as taxing as the climb.

So why make the effort?

To go where few have gone in the past two decades, to see just what Mount St. Helens did to its surroundings and how they are recovering.

For access to spectacular high country, studded with lakes, subalpine firs, meadows carpeted with wildflowers, and views of Mount Adams, the Goat Rocks and Mount Rainier.

And for solitude. Permits are required to camp in the Mount Margaret Backcountry, and the Forest Service issues only a handful at a time. We encountered a few other parties our first day, then saw only four more people on the trail the rest of the trip.

We saw no bootprints on the faint side trail to Shovel Lake, and wondered if we might be the first visitors of the season.

The Mount Margaret Backcountry, a popular backpacking destination before the eruption, lies north of the volcano and Spirit Lake, inside the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Congress established the 110,000-acre monument in 1982 in large part to allow scientists to study how an ecosystem recovers from such a cataclysm without human interference.

With that in mind, the Forest Service has imposed restrictions to reduce the impact hikers might have on this fragile environment. Party size is limited to four; no horses or pets. Camping is allowed only at designated sites. Campfires are prohibited.

We'd originally planned a 25-mile loop trip that would have taken us along the Boundary Trail above Spirit Lake, staring straight into the volcano's maw. In late July, however, much of that route still was covered with snow. And the Forest Service had closed the steep, exposed Whittier Ridge Trail, which links the Boundary Trail with the high lakes.

So, after consulting with monument staff, we opted to go where the snow wasn't such an obstacle.

We ended up with permits to camp one night each at Ridge Camp, Snow Lake and Shovel Lake. Parking one car at Coldwater Lake, below the Forest Service's impressive Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center, we drove the other to the South Coldwater trailhead, just a mile or two away.

The trail to Ridge Camp gains about 1,500 feet in three miles, passing weathered artifacts of the logging that continued until just days before Mount St. Helens erupted - half-buried steel cables, a crumpled yarder, a Cat tilted on its nose, a rusting truck. The blast zone is often likened to a cemetery; these could be its gravestones.

Many of the plants in the lower elevations of the Mount Margaret Backcountry are species you'd find in a suburban vacant lot, or a clearcut: alder, dandelions, thistles, fireweed, foxglove. We saw no big animals, but lots of tracks and scat - elk, deer, cougar or bobcat, bear.

Only one of the three tent pads at Ridge Camp is on the ridge. The other two are nestled in a bowl, protected but view-less. We'd been told to pack extra water, that there might not be any at the camp, but we found a stream a few hundred yards away.

The next day, we dropped through morning fog a couple of miles to Coldwater Creek near the head of Coldwater Lake, losing all the elevation we'd gained the day before. We regained that and more on the climb to Snow Lake.

This was the aforementioned hike from hell: steep, hot and slippery. The Green Trails map said it was about three miles. The Forest Service's map and signs pegged it at closer to four.

It felt like 10. The skull of a small mammal in the middle of the trail seemed like an omen. A steep snowfield just before the lake was an unpleasant surprise.

But we entered a different, more hospitable world when we finally reached Snow Lake, elevation 4,700 feet, still bordered by snow in many places. Slender subalpine firs - the first living conifers we had seen up-close all day - grew among the weathered snags. Avalanche lilies poked through retreating snow patches. Mount Margaret rose beyond the lake's outlet. Hummingbirds buzzed us. Mosquitoes didn't.

We watched evening shadows creep up the mountainside and fell asleep to the sounds of tumbling creeks and croaking frogs.

The next day's hike to Shovel Lake was short - perhaps 1 1/2 miles - and sweet: a 500-foot climb to a saddle, a big-view ridgetop stroll through beargrass, columbine and other wildflowers, then a 500-foot drop to the lakeshore. The trail crossed several snowfields, none particularly frightening.

Shovel Lake, still mostly frozen, was larger than Snow, but rockier, more austere, less welcoming. Steam rose from the snow, melting fast in the sun. We took a look at the snow that covered the trail beyond the lake and were thankful we hadn't planned to go farther.

As we headed out the next day, we came upon a twitching ground squirrel, dying in the middle of the trail. On the trip's final leg, along Coldwater Lake, we passed the carcasses of two recently killed elk. Even without those, it would have been difficult to avoid thinking about death in this landscape, where so much was destroyed so suddenly.

But life is gaining fast. The Mount Margaret Backcountry has come a long way from what I saw of it in 1980 as a reporter covering the eruption.

From a helicopter, days after the blast, I saw mountains and valleys stripped of all color, just gray and brown and shades between.

They're slowly turning green again. A trip to the Mount Margaret Backcountry can be a great affirmation of life - if the trail doesn't kill you.

Eric Pryne's phone message number is 206-464-2231. His e-mail address is epryne@seattletimes.com

-------------------------------------- Mount Margaret Backcountry / If you go --------------------------------------

Camping in the Mount Margaret Backcountry is by permit only, and is allowed at just eight sites. No more than 38 people are allowed in the area at one time, no more than four hikers per party. There's a nonrefundable fee of $10 per night per campsite. Each has raised tent pads, solar composting toilets and dishwater sumps.

Day hikers don't need permits, and their numbers aren't limited.

Trails are accessible from the west from State Highway 504 at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center, Coldwater Lake and the Johnston Ridge Observatory; and from the east from Forest Road 99 at Independence Pass and Forest Road 26 at Norway Pass.

Restrictions: No pets, no fires, no horses, no bicycles, except on Boundary Trail east of its intersection with Coldwater Trail.

Necessities: Sturdy boots, sunglasses, sun screen, gas stove, water filter or other means of water purification.

Information and permits: Plenty of permits are available for the remainder of this hiking season, particularly on weekdays. Recorded information is available at 360-891-5090.

To obtain permits for dates more than a week in the future, phone Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument headquarters, 360-247-3900.

Each Monday the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center begins distributing unissued permits for the seven-day period that begins that Wednesday. Phone: 360-274-2131.

Other options: Write Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, 42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Rd., Amboy, WA 98601. Or check the monument's website: www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm

It includes a permit-application form.

Before hitting the trail, it's probably smart to check with the monument on trail conditions - especially snow conditions this year - and water availability. Backcountry ranger Brian Spitek says water might not be available at Ridge Camp in late summer, and springs at several other camps might be difficult to find.

- Eric Pryne