Spent two nights in the Mt Margaret wilderness, just north of Loowit (Mt St Helens) and Spirit lake. Sunday was wet and cold. We stayed dry, but were not prepared for how cold it was. And I'll tell you something, I would rather be huddled cold in my sleeping bag, watching the stars wheel over the mountain and waiting for sunrise than comfortable in this so-called civilization. I know which one makes me feel alive.
1/
Morning sun filtered through the fir trees makes the autumn colored berry bushes glow.
A view of the crater of Loowit across Spirit lake. The day is a little hazy. Floating logs from the 1980 eruption still cover much of the lake. Summer has melted all of Loowit's snow except the glacier in the crate itself.
Steep green hills dotted with dark firs and crowned with sharp rock beneath a sunny blue sky.
My view from the sleeping bag. The orange light of dawn sets the horizon on fire while the dark blue of night is still overhead.