Toutle, Butte Camp
Jul 10, 2012
by
Sunrise Creek
—
last modified
Jul 10, 2012 10:25 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Toutle
- Region: South Cascades
- Trails: Toutle (#238)
- Avg Rating: 2.75
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Butte Camp
- Region: South Cascades -- Mt. St. Helens
- Agency: USFS Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
- Trails: Butte Camp (#238.1)
- Avg Rating: 3.00
- Why You Should Go Now
- Wildflowers blooming
- Be Aware Of
- Snow on trail
South face of Mount St. Helens viewed from the 1,900-year-old lava flow at Red Rock Pass. Photo by Susan Saul
Butte Camp Trail (accessed via the Toutle Trail from Red Rock Pass on FR 81), is a favorite that I hike nearly every year.
I like the diversity of landscapes along this hike, from lava bed to recovering clearcuts, from oldgrowth Douglas-fir and noble fir forest to lodgepole pine and silver fir, from the wet meadow of Butte Camp to the desert landscape of timberline.
The hike starts with a walk across a 1,900-year-old lava bed. From the open lava bed, you can see the entire south face of Mount St. Helens. You will be at timberline up there at your turnaround point.
From Red Rock Pass, the route goes 1.5 miles on Toutle Trail #238 to the junction with Butte Camp Trail #238A. (You will pass two trails going off to the left enroute: the first one is an equestrian trail and the second one is a winter ski trail.) At the junction, go straight ahead on the Butte Camp Trail, climbing steadily for about 1.25 miles to a flat area where Butte Camp sits to the left of the trail.
Butte Camp was the former "climbers bivouac" for the south climb route prior to the 1980 eruption. It has a reliable water supply through most of the year from a small stream that flows off of Butte Camp Dome and through the meadow.
Today, we encountered large snow drifts on the trail, in Butte Camp and the surrounding forest. In July, mosquitoes usually are a problem at Butte Camp, but not today.
Beyond Butte Camp, the trail climbs in earnest, switchbacking up through an old growth noble fir forest that feels refreshingly cool on a warm summer day. The trail on this ridge face was snow free.
The trail emerges onto an open slope to a viewpoint where you can look back to the Red Rock Pass lava bed and see where you started the hike.
The trail then turns northward towards the mountain. We encountered snow in earnest here, with tree wells indicating depths of four to five feet. I used my GPS to navigate across the snow until we reached the final ridge leading up to the junction with the Loowit Trail. This ridge always melts out early and already had flowers like Pink Mountain-heather blooming.
Our turn around point is the junction with the Loowit Trail at 4,750 feet. (It is illegal to go higher than 4,800 feet without a climbing permit.) The Loowit Trail junction got us to timberline and big views, light breezes and the place to ourselves.
During lunch, we listened for marmots but only heard varied thrushes calling from the forest below. The Loowit Trail is mostly snow free along this open, south-facing slope.
This hike is about 7.8 miles round trip with about 1,600 feet elevation gain.
I like the diversity of landscapes along this hike, from lava bed to recovering clearcuts, from oldgrowth Douglas-fir and noble fir forest to lodgepole pine and silver fir, from the wet meadow of Butte Camp to the desert landscape of timberline.
The hike starts with a walk across a 1,900-year-old lava bed. From the open lava bed, you can see the entire south face of Mount St. Helens. You will be at timberline up there at your turnaround point.
From Red Rock Pass, the route goes 1.5 miles on Toutle Trail #238 to the junction with Butte Camp Trail #238A. (You will pass two trails going off to the left enroute: the first one is an equestrian trail and the second one is a winter ski trail.) At the junction, go straight ahead on the Butte Camp Trail, climbing steadily for about 1.25 miles to a flat area where Butte Camp sits to the left of the trail.
Butte Camp was the former "climbers bivouac" for the south climb route prior to the 1980 eruption. It has a reliable water supply through most of the year from a small stream that flows off of Butte Camp Dome and through the meadow.
Today, we encountered large snow drifts on the trail, in Butte Camp and the surrounding forest. In July, mosquitoes usually are a problem at Butte Camp, but not today.
Beyond Butte Camp, the trail climbs in earnest, switchbacking up through an old growth noble fir forest that feels refreshingly cool on a warm summer day. The trail on this ridge face was snow free.
The trail emerges onto an open slope to a viewpoint where you can look back to the Red Rock Pass lava bed and see where you started the hike.
The trail then turns northward towards the mountain. We encountered snow in earnest here, with tree wells indicating depths of four to five feet. I used my GPS to navigate across the snow until we reached the final ridge leading up to the junction with the Loowit Trail. This ridge always melts out early and already had flowers like Pink Mountain-heather blooming.
Our turn around point is the junction with the Loowit Trail at 4,750 feet. (It is illegal to go higher than 4,800 feet without a climbing permit.) The Loowit Trail junction got us to timberline and big views, light breezes and the place to ourselves.
During lunch, we listened for marmots but only heard varied thrushes calling from the forest below. The Loowit Trail is mostly snow free along this open, south-facing slope.
This hike is about 7.8 miles round trip with about 1,600 feet elevation gain.
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Snowpack at the junction of the Butte Camp Trail with the Loowit Trail, at 4,750 feet elevation. Photo by Susan Saul
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Pink Mountain-heather is blooming along the Loowit Trail in this area. Photo by Susan Saul
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Snow covering the Butte Camp Trail on the flat to the east of Butte Camp Dome. Photo by Susan Saul
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