Ape Canyon, Loowit Trail — Tuesday, Jul. 26, 2011

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Despite a weather forecast for 30% chance of rain showers and a cloudy day, I decided to hike the Ape Canyon Trail to the Loowit Trail and onward to the Plains of Abraham on the east side of Mount St. Helens. What an excellent decision! We were in a clearing trend with the clouds melting away as we hiked upward towards the mountain. This is one of my favorite hikes around Mount St. Helens. The trail starts in an old (40-50 years ago) clearcut, now regrowing, and goes through it for about 1.2 miles. The trail then enters oldgrowth forest with lots of big Douglas-firs and begins serious climbing up the ridge through well-engineered switchbacks. At about 4 miles, the trail emerges from the forest as it reaches Ape Canyon. A lot of hikers turn around here, but more wonders still await so I always continue on. The Ape Canyon Trail junctions with the Loowit Trail at 4.5 miles. We turn north and continue another mile to the Plains of Abraham and our favorite lunch site at a viewpoint. As we walked beneath the slope of Pumice Butte, I pointed out a lot of mountain goat fur snagged in the slide alders beside the trail. Goats must be nearby. Sure enough, we soon spotted the mountain goats themselves: a nanny with a kid and two other adults. Although I have heard reports for years, this was the first time I have seen mountain goats on Mount St. Helens myself. The goats moved off but focused on the main business of eating. Obviously, they have seen a lot of hikers and were not very concerned. The cloud layer obscured most of Mount Adams to the east, and we could not see the Goat Rocks, Mount Rainier or Mount Hood due to the heavy marine layer, but directly to our west, Mount St. Helens was totally clear. The diversity of habitats on this hiking route produced a high list of wildflower species in bloom. Over the total 11 mile hike, I counted 57 species blooming: Achillea millifolium Yarrow Achlys triphylla Vanilla leaf Actaea rubra Baneberry Agoseris aurantiaca Orange agoseris Anaphalis margaritacea Pearly everlasting Arctostaphylos nevadensis Pinemat manzanita Arenaria macrophylla Big-leaf sandwort Arnica cordifolia Heart-leaf arnica Aruncus sylvester Goatsbeard Castilleja miniata Scarlet paintbrush Chimaphila umbellata Pipsissewa Claytonia siberica Siberian miner's lettuce Clintonia uniflora Queen's cup Corallorrhiza maculate Spotted coralroot Corallorrhiza mertensiana Merten’s coralroot Cornus canadensis Bunchberry Dicentra formosa Bleeding heart Disporum hookeri Hooker’s fairybell Eriogonum pyrolifolium Alpine buckwheat Eriophyllum lanatum Oregon sunshine Fragaria virginiana Woods strawberry Hieracium albiflorum White-flowered hawkweed Hydrophyllum fendleri Fendler's waterleaf Leucanthemum vulgare* Oxeye daisy Lilium columbianum Tiger lily Listera caurina Northwestern twayblade Lomatium martindalei Martindale’s desert parsley Luetkea pectinata Partridge foot Lupinus latifolius Broad-leaf lupine Lupinus lepidus var. lobbii Dwarf lupine Maianthemum dilatatum False lily-of-the-valley Maianthemum racemosa False Solomon's seal Maianthemum stellata Star-flowered Solomon's seal Nothochelone nemerosa Woodland beard-tongue Penstemon cardwellii Cardwell's penstemon Penstemon rupicola Cliff penstemon Penstemon serrulatus Cascade penstemon Phlox diffusa Spreading phlox Phyllodoce empetriformis Red mountain heather Polygonum newberryi Newberry's knotweed Pyrola picta White-veined pyrola Rosa nutkana Nootka rose Rubus lasiococcus Dwarf bramble Rubus parviflorus Thimbleberry Rubus spectabilus Salmonberry Sambucus racemosa Red elderberry Saxifraga ferruginea Rusty saxifrage Sedum oreganum Oregon stonecrop Sorbus scopulina Cascade mountain-ash Spraguea umbellata Pussypaws Taraxacum officinale* Dandelion Tellima grandiflora Fringecup Tiarella trifoliata Foamflower Trillium ovatum White trillium Valeriana sitchensis Sitka valerian Vancouveria hexandra Inside-out-flower Viola glabella Stream violet *non-native There were a few blowdowns across the trail and two snowbanks, but they were easily negotiated. The snow will be gone soon. Another excellent day on the trail.