Hiking on the Western Slopes of Mt. St. Helens


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Gobar Creek

Weyerhaeuser owns vast amounts of private timberlands in the Pacific Northwest. The land is accessible to hikers, hunters and others by a limited number of permits.

West of Mt. St. Helens their holdings are great habitat for elk, and other animals. This year I paid for a permit to enter those lands by foot.

After parking at a gate north of the Kalama River Road on a cold and breezy early-December day, I spent five hours hiking logging roads as I looked for elk in the upper Gobar Creek drainage.

At the end of Road 6324 there was evidence of an old elk camp. And, there was quite a lot of elk sign in the area.

On the way back to the car, I continued to spot elk tracks. It brought back memories of my youth when the old cowboy would remind me: Son, track soup makes for mighty thin gruel.

Sign at the “trailhead”

A section of the “trail”

Frosty fallen leaves

Sword Ferns galore

Lots of mushrooms to see

Many small streams along the road

Much old logging equipment to be seen

Categories: Washington Cascades HikesTags: , ,

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