longer.blue

July 2026 | The Tree Farm As most of you know, I returned to Mount St. Helens last month for the first time in nine years, but I held back on a big secret. Now that I've got the green light to share, it's time to reveal. With everything that's happened since August 2017, including this space, I knew that I wanted my experiences to be different. Of all the wish list items I wanted to do, one stood above the rest. One problem: the permit season hadn't opened yet. So, figuring the worst I could hear was a "no," I sent a message asking a certain company if I could access their expansive property to see for myself the incredible landscape that the eruption had once devastated. Lo and behold, my fears were unfounded; I got a "yes." It is with my deepest gratitude that I'll be sharing some photos and stories over the next few weeks about stepping inside the St. Helens Tree Farm, owned by Weyerhaeuser. After the eruption, bringing this land back took the better part of a decade — over 1,000 people salvaging timber for nearly two years, then seven more years hand-planting 18 million seedlings — all inside an active volcanic hazard zone. 46 years later, the fruits of that work are now being harvested. While Weyerhaeuser's lands are usually open to recreational permit holders year-round, access is regularly restricted by fire season and active logging. I want to stress that you should not access them without permission, as they are private property. So stick with me. We'll start our trip into the Tree Farm this weekend!