[Gimpilator]

Original forecast had down south as the best pick. Frances and I went for some peaks with intimate views of Saint Helens. Thanks Aaron for your original Coldwater report! That's what put this on my list. Coming from Johnston Ridge west side, it seemed like getting to Whittier in a day was too much. Alternatively coming from Norway Pass east side, Blastzone Butte would be too far for an out and back. Alternatively with two cars, you could make a traverse. But we chose to leave out Blastzone and get Whittier. Coldwater Peak - 5720' Hiked from Norway trailhead to Norway Pass. Gobs of huckleberries and salmon berries below the pass. Oodles of strawberries beyond the pass. Strawberry fields forever. Never eaten so many strawberries while hiking. We passed all the peaks opting to get the furthest one first, but cached some water at the Whittier trail junction. Flying ants on the summit rocks.

Meta Lake

Spirit Lake

above Norway Pass

Spirit spiral

Adams

Coldwater above Saint Helens Lake

Saint Helens

summit

The Dome - 5720' Easier than it looks. Most of these peaks are easy and near the main trail.

Dome from east

Dome from west

Mount Margaret - 5851' Thicker swarm of flying ants. Headnet required for the summit.

Margaret

summit 3 of 5

Mount Teragram - 5855' This peak, only named on some maps, has the same number of contour lines as Margaret. ArcGIS has it as 4 feet higher. Do both.

Teragram

USC & GS

Helens, Margaret

Mount Whittier - 5883' Now for the cherry on top of our berries. Whittier is the highest of the group and also the most interesting. An access trail of ledges has been blasted into the side of gendarmes and along the top of a craggy ridge with heavy exposure. You could buy the farm if you slip in the wrong spot. It's exciting and fun for a trail hike. Because of the location relative to the other peaks, views of all the north face cliffs are also fantastic. Highly recommend this peak. We saw large herds of elk bedded down in both the Boot Lake and Coldwater Creek valleys.

Strawberry Mountain, Boot Lake

Minnie

gendarmes

Margaret, Dome, Coldwater

Holmstedt Lake

trail on the ridge

the ridge towards Mount Venus

Dome, Coldwater

Teragram, Margaret, Helens

Whittier summit

elk herd

Whittier

[Brushbuffalo]

[Ski]

excellent!

[fourteen410]

Great pics. Jealous of your strawberry harvest - I still have yet to find a single wild strawberry in all my years of hiking.

[Fletcher]

Nice looking trip, those peaks are more interesting than I thought.

[Jake Robinson]

Dang, this looks great. Nice trip!

[ozzy]

Damn!! Never knew these gems were out there!! Awesome trip thanks for the beta!

[raising3hikers]

that is pretty much the only area I've found wild strawberries. btw, nice pks, too!

[SwitchbackFisher]

I really want to do a trip to the Margaret Backcountry maybe 2 nights. Great report and nice work on those summits!

[Brushbuffalo]

[Mikey]

Many thanks for your report and photos. I have been over much of that area before the Mt St Helens eruption. We would hike from the Spirit Lake highway to Fawn Lake, Hanaford Lake, Forest Lake, Tradedollar Lake, even down to the Green River (there was a Guard Station there). Then when USFS Rd 100 was put in, access to Meta, Ghost, and Strawberry lakes was handy. From Spirit Lake we hiked into Grizzly lake, etc.

[silence]

Nice going!

[Bryan K]

Great report and photos!!!! Ironically enough, just last week I was looking at these very peaks and thinking about a trip to hike them. Thanks for the beta (if I make it there before I move)