Unintended consequences of taking a hike just to take in the view; was getting to the point of deciding to turn around and head back when another hiker was returning, he had passed me along the trail, he commented about seeing Spirit Lake so I pushed on and this view was just around the next rise along the trail. Windy Ridge overlook is across the valley at approximately the high point near those two peaks photo center.................cell phone grab, for sure I got multiple shots with a D850. Not sure how far from the starting point at the Johnston Observatory this view is but it took me about two hours to get this shot, carrying a D850 with Nikkor 24-70 lens., and adequate water; learned the hard way about water first time I was on this trail, I let my granddaughter carry the water and she drank most of it; that cut short that hike. I have visited the Windy Ridge overlook; a nice vista but the return drive is a white knuckle for sure, like a narrow paved mountain goat path; NO GUARDRAILS, simply a very small curb and a ten mile drive through the blast zone. NOT for a driver who may get vertigo.

Very Cool!

Very nice. All your effort paid off nicely. I work on expansive views too with the same equipment, but for the granddaughter. Always anxious to see what’s around the next bend.

Two circumstances kept me from pressing on; from this vantage point the trail continued but at a steeper grade and I was already a two hour return to my start point, the Johnston Observatory and it was after 3:30 pm, I wanted to make a pit stop and get something for my granddaughter from the gift shop before it closed at 6 pm. I got back in time, however I dawdled more after at the Loowit Viewpoint, which has a different perspective of Mt St Helens and where I looked for elk in the valley. The attached is the view from Loowit, the late afternoon lighting was better and you get a good view of "the belly of the beast" as I refer to the crater. l

Is that “The Ash Hole of the West”?