June Lake, Loowit Trail — Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1980 eruption and in celebration of that event we're anticipating working on the Loowit trail with volunteer vacations and Backcountry Response Teams. So we hiked this section to scope out the trail conditions. The hike unfolds in three chapters, first a gentle climb up the June Lake trail ending at the clear waters of the lake fed by a waterfall. Climbing higher to the jct with the Loowit we turned right and headed east alternately through the forest and across chunky lava flows softened by moss. After a couple miles the trail traverses a different landscape; open grassland with patches of red and swathes of bear grass stalks that must have been spectacular earlier this summer. Along the last leg of the hike we saw spectacular views of Mt. Adams, plus a glimpse of Mt. Rainier as well as nice views of Mount St. Helens. Far to the south we could also make out Mt. Hood sticking sharply out of the clouds. We ended the hike where the trail ended at the edge of a precipice carved by the erosion of spring floods. Across the abyss we could see the trail taking off again. But we balked at the idea of climbing down the steep rocky gorge and back out again. There is lots of worked needed along this section of the Loowit including brushing and tread restoration along the steep side slopes where the trail traverses creeks that flood annually.