Loowit Falls — Sunday, May. 27, 2018

South Cascades > Mount St. Helens

Hiked Loowit Falls from Johnston Ridge Observatory solo. Depending on who you ask, this route is 14 to 16 miles. Started at 0830 and returned to my car at 1530. Quick tips: be prepared for sun exposure and Truman Trail will be marked on the right by a large wooden sign noting Loowit Trail is 3.4 miles ahead. I got a little turned around. More details below. Left Seattle at 5:30 and was on the trail by 8:30. Plenty of parking available and I recommend starting early to do as much of the hike in cooler temps given that there is no coverage. With a forecast of 67 and windy, I wore long leggings instead of my usual shorts and regretted it. Although they were good for sun protection, they did me in for heat exhaustion. Also, the trail maps posted on AllTrails and at trail entrances at Johnston Ridge do not note the few outlook trails to the right of Boundary Trail. As a result, I took an outlook trail noted as “more difficult,” assuming it was Truman Trail and got confused for ~30 mins. **Note that Truman Trail will be clearly marked.** Once you descend into the valley, the trail will be marked by wooden posts and/or cairns. It’s a trek and not for the ill prepared, especially in hot weather. Bring plenty of water. If you’re looking for solitude, this hike is for you. Once I turned from Boundary Trail to Truman Trail, I only encountered one other (returning) group on my way up to the falls and had the Falls to myself for my twenty-minute lunch around noon. I passed ten other groups venturing out to the falls between 12:30 to 2pm. I didn’t have the energy to scramble any closer to the falls than where the trail obviously ended and was satisfied with the view, though others might find the pay off disappointing. Even if you do, the entire hike out there is pretty stellar, in my opinion. And it feels pretty special to walk right up to the mountain.