Mount Margaret Backcountry (July 2025)

The Mount Margaret Backcountry is incredible! The landscape, wildflowers, and wildlife were outstanding! 

I'd long heard great things about this area northeast of Mount St. Helens, but it was too far for a day trip, and backpacking requires permits that we'd never pursued. I mentioned it to Brad, and he said we should go for it this summer!

Per usual, we planned our itinerary by mileage and without regard for elevation gain. Learn from our mistakes 😆 We plotted a two-night clockwise route from Coldwater Lake with third-day options, depending on how we were feeling (make a lollipop and return the way we came, get adventurous and see if the South Coldwater Trail was passable, or get super-ambitious and return via Harry's Ridge, Boundary Trail, Johnston Ridge, Hummocks Trail)

We drove up Monday morning (July 14), ate lunch at the Coldwater Lake trailhead, booted up, and set out for Obscurity Lake. The first 5ish miles are easy, along the lakeside day-use trail. I've been there a couple times, but this was Brad's first visit to the lake. He was drooling over the kayaking/paddleboarding opportunities!

We reached the creek, stopped for a little snack and some pics, then headed up the Lakes Trail toward Snow Lake Camp.

We'd estimated 10ish miles for the first day, though it ended up being 12 by the time we got to camp. And the trail was in very poor condition, so combined with the elevation gain and the soaring summer temps, it was slow going and took longer than we planned.

The trail obviously sees little traffic and hadn't received any seasonal maintenance. It was incredibly overgrown, forcing hikers to the edge of the singletrack and causing significant erosion. The bushwhacking was slow, and our legs were covered in scrapes. 

There were also a couple spots that I think might soon be impassible if maintenance crews don't carve out a shelf across the drainages. 

We climbed and climbed, passing lake after lake:

Mount Adams:

Mount Rainier:

A few snowfields still dot the trail:

We were pleasantly surprised that the trail was more shaded and not completely in the sun the first day. 

The area is so remote that our lake had just a single camp site. But it did have a backcountry composting toilet - luxury! Also, we saw just one other person the entire day after leaving the day-use area. She was camping at one of the earlier lakes/campsites.

Brad gave me my very own ultralight backpacking tent for my June birthday, and it was great to have our own spaces to spread out! Probably my best night of backpacking sleep!

Wearing my jacket to keep the bugs at bay:

We took our time in the morning, knowing we'd be in the sun most of the day - and Ridge Camp had no shade at all. We didn't want to get there too quickly and have to bake in the sun all day.

The scenery and wildflowers were magnificent! 

We gained the saddle where the Boundary Trail joins and saw this amazing view of the mountain. We've summitted numerous times, and we've hiked in the area and even circumnavigated the mountain on the Loowit Trail. But we've never seen this view - a view you'd only get from this remote trail! It really took our breath away.

Spirit Lake in the foreground:

I wish we'd taken more wildflower pics. They were truly stunning - every kind of mountain wildflower you could imagine!

The trail follows the ridgeline with amazing 360-degree, 5-mountain views.

St. Helens Lake:

We started seeing more and more mountain goat fur stuck in brush, and then Brad spotted four goats chilling on a rock outcropping across the valley: (pic is zoomed in)

They kept staring us down, but we assured them we were no danger - it was a long way, and we hadn't brought rock-climbing gear to reach those heights! 

This pic is *not* zoomed in - see the distance:

A short time later, Brad spotted a whole herd playing on a nearby snowfield:

We counted about 20 goats in the valley:

And then he discovered a herd of elk below us:

Eventually, we reached Ridge Camp, our destination for night two:

We hid in the shade of a shrub and tried not to get too many mosquito and fly bites.

The sun was still hours from setting, it was very hot, and we were low on water. After dropping our gear, we hiked about 1/3 mile farther to get water where a spring crosses the trail. Unfortunately, it was dry, and it was the only nearby water source.

Brad was really feeling the heat and didn't think he could make it through the night and morning on the amount of water we had left.

So we weighed our options: 

• Hike about 2 miles down to the creek to get water and then back up to camp. 
• Hike out tonight via the Coldwater Lake Trail - about 7 miles - and then either sleep in the parking lot or drive home very late. 
• Hike out to the South Coldwater Trailhead, which may or may not be open. The highway is closed, and I could not find definitive information about whether it was passable on foot. Assuming it was passable, it would be about 5 miles to the car. If not passable, we could get water and hike back to Ridge Camp or sleep on the highway... or???

We decided to try the South Coldwater Trail and hope for the best. We ate some freeze-dried chocolate cheesecake for quick energy and calories, packed up, and set out for more adventure:

The South Coldwater Trail was beautiful and easy. We saw some abandoned logging equipment - we assumed it was damaged by the 1980 blast. We also realized the brush next to the trail had been mowed. Considering the condition of the trails we'd been on, this was wild to us! It also heavily suggested that this trail was *not* closed due to the highway closure and might actually get us where we needed to be!

Soon we popped out onto the closed highway. We weren't sure where the washout was, but we started walking and hoped it was behind us and not in front of us.

No closure!!!! (turns out it's much higher up the highway - yippee!)

The setting sun provided a nice alpenglow backdrop for our final leg:

The day ended up being closer to 20 miles. But we made it back to the car before dark and not too late to drive home.

We laughed because we keep picking these long trails that would be so much more pleasant if done with *one* extra night. (Like the Timberline, Loowit, etc.) We said earlier in the trip that we really should have taken the heat and elevation into account and shortened the mileage each day, camping three nights instead of two. SOOOO.... instead of a more-leisurely three nights, we did it in *ONE* night. 

🙄

Like I said, learn from our mistakes 🤣

Oh, and we didn't see a single soul the entire second day except for another hiker set up at the other side of Ridge Camp.

Another amazing adventure!