Butte Camp — Friday, Jun. 4, 2021

Started early afternoon at Red Rock Pass and continued north to Butte Camp, saw only 3 other hikers who were on their way out.  A half dozen easy to step over trees across the trail, but it is in good condition with snow patches beginning just past the Kalama Ski trail junction. The size and number of patches gradually increased until it was almost all snow at Butte Camp around 4,000'.  The snow was soft enough to not need spikes.  Traces of ground trail were visible, and with gps for navigation, we were able to cross the stream at the Camp area and continue toward the Loowit Trail on partially snow-free switchbacks.  The snow-free exposed traverse starts around 4,400' and goes for about 1/10th of a mile.  Based on the few previous reports I found, it has apparently deteriorated since last year.  There is at least a couple hundred feet of very steep rocky slope below the traverse path. The "trail" is maybe a foot wide and is unstable with loose pebbles and a couple of spots moved when I touched the surface with a pole.  It would be extremely dangerous to meet a hiker going in the opposite direction on this stretch because there is no safe room to step aside.  Having said that, a fall there would likely result in serious injury.  After the traverse, we hit almost continuous 3 - 4 feet deep snow again and turned back at 4,500' due to tree well hazards and potential holes under the snow surface.  Otherwise, the trail to Butte Camp is very pleasant and the view of St. Helens from the lava field is awesome.