It’s hard to find any recent info on the Loowit, so I figured I should post this, even though we didn’t get all the way around.

We arrived at the Marble Mountain sno-park/trailhead at about 6:30 am for our one-day attempt at hiking the Loowit trail. We had been warned ahead of time by someone at monument headquarters that “under no circumstances should [we] attempt the Loowit trail.” This of course had the opposite effect and just made us want to go check it out even more. The trail is in rough shape. The stretches that aren’t under snow, across boulder fields, or washed out in ravines are often in a state of sloughing off. My friend made the comment that it was almost like an Indian Jones movie where you have to run as the trail falls away behind you. It wasn’t quite THAT bad, but I think you get the idea. We were stopped just before noon at the large washout just before Sheep Canyon. We were heading in a clockwise direction. It is POSSIBLE to get around this washout by heading down slope for maybe half a mile to a mile, scrambling down, scrambling back up, and then bushwhacking your way up to the trail. We did explore down slope with this thought in mind, but eventually due to time constraints, not knowing what other challenges lay ahead, not wanting to hike into the night and freak out our wives by not making our 10:00pm check in time, we decide to bag the Loowit and instead came up with the bright idea of continuing to bushwhack and explore downslope with the thought of striking the Blue Lake Horse Trail. We were able to eventually find the trail (also washed out – keep to the southern shore of the washout to eventually strike the trail) and were planning on following that to the Toutle trail. At the Junction the Toutle trail to the SE was taped off, wood piled in front of it, the sign pulled out and broken, and new sign saying that the trail was closed ½ mile ahead was posted. Having had enough of scrambling through washouts for one day, we stuck to the horse trail to reach FS road 8100. We followed that past the turn to the climber’s bivouac. We were then able to score a ride down to the junction with road 83, hiked that for a about a mile and half and scored a truck bed ride back to our car at the sno-park. In all, the GPS said we did about 19 miles (after subtracting the car rides.) Not quite as nice as the full Loowit, but a good adventure. As far as we saw, the Loowit is doable given enough time – but it is in rough shape in some spots. We got the impression that the FS is just going to let this one fade away – which is too bad. It’s a great way to sample all the aspects of this unique mountain.

After spending the night at Point 3670 ( another old fire lookout) we slowly made our way to the Siouxon Peak trail. This is a super trail....getting to it is not so super. Take forest service road 61 ( Dry Creek road)from the Wind River road and then 6103. 6103 is in bad shape with car swallower potholes forcing a slow pace indeed. The trailhead is at a clearcut at the end of 6103....skirt the upper end of the clearcut and gulp before crossing a small avalanche chute at the east end of the clearcut. Follow the old road bed up through lovely dry forest filled with large timber. This area really should be added to the nearby Trapper Peak wilderness. The roadbed switchbacks up and turns into trail at the base of Siouxon. The trail and roadbed are maintained by the local mountain bike guys....great work! Climb up the old lookout trail into meadows and then a knife ridge. The trail to Huffman peak cuts off below the old lookout site. Enjoy the gentians and penstemon and harebells below the ridge. Climb up to Siouxon and bask in sunshine, breezes and wonderful Mount Adams and Mount Hood views. (St Helens is visible from the trail but trees shroud the west and southwest views.) Marvel at the tenacity of the folks who built, manned and maintained lookouts in these fantastic places. We did not see a soul.....

On our way out, we decided to stop at yet another old lookout location. Burnt Peak overlooks the Lewis river, but there is no trail, and no view. We found a fire service road (3211) and bushwacked our way to the highest point of this peak....trees grown up around the site for 30 years made it quite the scramble. The lookout platform and some lookout junk is still there....

Dad and I departed the June Lake trailhead around 7:45 Saturday morning under thick clouds and chilly but comfortable temps. The clouds were so low that we couldn't even see the waterfall on the far side of the lake. About a steep quarter mile later we met the Loowit Trail and decided to head clockwise around the mountain. During the next half mile there are some surprisingly huge old growth stands which are situated right at the base of boulder fields. Some of these trees must be 8 feet in diameter. Amazing considering they're on the slopes of an active volcano. The trail then enters endless boulder fields. Wood poles have been placed to keep hikers on track; otherwise you'd be wandering aimlessly. The clouds were basically below us at this point and views of Adams and Hood were excellent. At the junction with the Ptarmigan Trail we met three young ladies heading up to the rim. Where the trail isn't in the boulders it's often very brushy. Westward we continued over more lava fields and through dry gullies. On the ridge above the Toutle River you begin to see the devastation caused by the eruption. The trees looked like toothpicks, some still standing and some lying parallel by the hundreds. Spruces have made a great return on the SW corner. One could have thought they were walking through a Christmas tree farm if the mountain weren't right there. After a 1,000 ft descent you come to trail junction 238 and a minute later is the only good water source since June Lake. You can't miss it, because it runs right over the Loowit trail. After coming out of the bushes you have to jump across the Toutle. We were there at about 3:00pm and found some rocks that were about 3 feet apart. Otherwise your feet get wet. Not deep at all, maybe about a foot. The climb out of the canyon is interesting, about an 800 ft vertical gain, traversing up the sandy canyon wall. Clouds were rapidly approaching so we wandered the plateau above the canyon for some flat ground sheltered in the small trees. This was right on the edge of the restricted Blast Zone. After setting up camp and having lunch the rains came. And they didn't leave. Heavy rain from about 4:00pm Saturday until about 8:00am Sunday morning. So we retreated to our tents and weathered the storm. Much to my surprise my tent didn't leak a drop. The lightning storm that night was hellacious. Between the thunder, the googling elk herds, the deafening rain drops and the raging nearby Toutle River coming off the mountain, not much sleep was to be had. So around 7:30am Sunday morning we broke camp in a steady rain. Seemed like a pretty crappy start to the day. But by the time we were back on the trail the rain had all but stopped. We caught up to a trio we had seen the previous day going counterclockwise while coming up the Toutle canyon. They didn't bother to cross the river on Saturday and evidently camped on the north side, which was unfortunate because Sunday morning it had swollen so much it was too dangerous to cross. So they had to retreat in the direction they had just come from. What a bummer. Across the Blast Zone we went, following cairns but often times guessing which direction to head since the heavy rains and runoff obliterated the real trail. After about 6 miles we decided to bypass the Loowit Falls junction and keep marching towards Windy Pass. The clouds shifted around for about a minute and we got our one and only view of the crater dome. There was a very cool oasis maybe a mile before Windy Pass. Lush vegetation grew along a creek with crystal clear water. After staying rather level across the Blast Zone, climbing up Windy Pass was a wakeup call, but well worth it because the Plains of Abraham was my favorite stretch. Wide open flat expanses with occasional creeks flowing in many different directions. I'm betting that this water came from rain? I'm not certain. We could only see the base of the mountain but I imagine the views on a clear day would be unlike any other. At the southern edge of the Plains we stopped for lunch at the top of Ape Canyon. The final push towards June Lake seemed like an endless stretch of gullies and canyons. After about 2 hours of climbing in and out and up and down you're rewarded with about quarter mile of ripe berry fields. I was hoping to spot a bear. I would carefully glance around every corner of the trail to make sure I didn’t come face to face with one. But we didn’t see any critters here. A mile later we were back where we started, the June Lake junction. 30 miles in two days in the middle of an unreal rainstorm warranted a high five. 30 minutes later a cold brew on ice waited for us at the trailhead.

This hike is like no other you'll do in the state of Washington. The scenery varies from moonscape to desert to open meadows to old growth forest. The biggest caution I saw on this trail was not the lack of water. You just need to plan how much you need between sources. In my mind you need to take the most care with the countless exposed trails you have to tiptoe across. The trail climbing to Windy Pass for instance was about a foot wide and a few hundred feet down. Same with the north side of the Toutle. But that was all sand which means the fall down might just be entertaining until you hit bottom. The Muddy River crossing is another stomach twister that comes to mind. We were fortunate enough to have cloud cover during 90% of our trip. The other 10% was about 70 degrees in the direct sun so despite the wild weather on Saturday night the weather was on our side. And did I mention NO BUGS, only grasshoppers.

After a long, rainy Friday night drive to the south side of Mt St Helens and a short time sleeping and wondering if the rain would stop, we got up at 5 to cloudy skies, had a parking lot breakfast at the June Lake trailhead, and started up at 6:19 AM on our annual epic. We seven were headed for the Loowit Trail #216 and a counterclockwise trip around the mountain in one day. Two guys from Oregon went up ahead of us, to go for clockwise run in 7 hours. We were thinking more like 14-15 hours for 31 miles, hiking and jogging. Weather and conditions were perfect, nice and cool with the sand and ash dampened by a day of rain. At June Lake, 1.7 miles from the TH, we took an unintended detour up the ski route, trail 244, across a lava boulder field heading NW instead of N up through the forest to the Loowit. Retraced and went through the camp site up to the trail. The landscape opens up right away to plains and low growth, with lots of loose sandy gullies to go down and up. Also lots of blue huckleberries at their prime, slowing some of us down a bit to rake off handfuls. A bear had obviously been enjoying the harvest, too, judging from scat on the trail.

Shoestring Glacier drainage was the first really deep gully. One lava boulder field comes early this way, too, with no defined tread. The rough lava is great for traction but can really scrape if you miss a step. This trail might not be enjoyable with a full pack for people not used to climbing or hiking in scree, pumice, sand and boulder fields. We reached Ape Canyon trail 234 at 8:52 AM.

The Plains of Abraham were beautiful, wide open spaces with carpets of yellow green moss some places and lavender blooming sage or little lupine in others. Windy Pass was windy. And cool. 10:11 AM. We stopped for food and needed our windbreakers. After the 95-100 degree days of a couple weeks ago, we were feeling lucky to have the overcast and north breeze, even though the clouds obscured the top of the mountain. This route is totally exposed to weather most of the way.

The route though the Restricted Zone is pretty minimal, sometimes just cairns through rocky, sandy areas with braided shallow streams to jump and more gullies. Lots of scrubby vegetation coming back, with subalpine firs mixed in on north slopes. Some stretches smell like a cattle ranch from the elk. We looked up to the Loowit Falls, but didn’t take the side trip. 10:47 AM. We met the Oregon ultrarun pair just north of here, about 10 miles into it for us and 20 for them right on pace for 7 hours. These were the first people we met on the Loowit.

Spirit Lake was cool to see from this side, and it was really impressive to see the extent of the blast zone. Johnston Observatory came out of the clouds as we went west along the northernmost part of the Loowit. Also saw a couple of black puffs from the crater.

Plenty of water sources this day, but some might not have been there without the rain the day before. We didn’t stop for water but could have at the second large drainage about 2 mi from June Lake Tr 244, and Muddy River and Shoestring Glacier drainage and a couple others, some silty or milky. Most of us started with about 3 liters that took us to a great spring about 1/2 mi past the Windy Ridge trail 216E that feeds a big grove of alders. We took water right from the rocks and skipped the iodine.

More open territory with little gullies then big gullies then a ridge with kinnikinik above the gorge of the Toutle, and a long, sandy traverse down. After a foot-wetting jump or two across the shallow stream, we took a good break for food and filtered some milky water. 1:30 PM. Met a group of 3 backpackers on the ridge, and 3 day hikers at the river. From here, we went up the long, grown-over forested trail on Crescent Ridge and felt like we were back on the wet side of Washington in typical lush lowland fir-hemlock forest. Some of the tallest red Coral Root orchids I’ve seen. Salmon berries, red huckleberries and blackcaps were ripe. We saw a solitary mountain goat across the valley to the north. This forest changes abruptly when the trail heads south and hits a deep gully that has washed out the trial. At the drainage north of Trial 240 there is a long detour to the west from the route on the Greentrails map, losing maybe 500 VF, then back up the other side. We arrived at Sheep Creek tr 240 at 3:11. From here there’s a dry, open pine forest, smelling great in the afternoon sun. Blue skies now, sun on our backs, and views of the whole mountain here and there. The SW side is a mix of trail and various kinds of rock boulder fields including lava blocks. Butte Creek trail 238A at 4:18 PM, and we met our last 3 hikers in the next stretch when we were feeling like it was coming up on the home stretch. Total of just 11 humans on the loop on a perfect August day! After the Climbers Bivouac trail 216A, the trail goes across some nice open meadows and patches of forest. I flushed a grouse that just about made me jump off the mountain, then disturbed an big doe elk, and met a pica shortly after.

We “decided” to take the lower trail 244, the ski route, back down to June Lake, thus going across the lava field there for the third time today, following the orange poles. Interesting, but a lot easier on skis with a few feet of snow cover. June Lake was a nice, cold place to cool off the hot feet and get washed up before the final 1.7 mi to the cars. Arrived back at the lot feeling really good about the day, after 13 hours, 31.4 trail miles, and 7,447 feet vertical gain. A great dinner at Maria’s Mexican restaurant in Woodland topped it off. Don for Jerry, Kevin, Kristen, Bill, Marc, Matt