The trail: Hot, hard, worth it. Views of Adams, Rainier, the Goat Rocks, Hood, and Jefferson. Wildflowers in bloom--sheets of alpine lupine, slopes of beargrass. On this trail, our pace was 25%-30% slower than typical (1.5 miles per hour instead of usual 2-2.25), thus increasing our need for water on the long days.
Hiking direction: We hiked counterclockwise starting at the June Lake TH. We opted for this direction because the first day to Pumice Butte would be shorter (about 8 miles) and we wanted to have lighter packs for the long 3rd day (S. Toutle back to June L, bout 14 mi.) We were glad for this choice when we were going up the loose, pumice slope on the south side of Windy Pass. It would have been trickier for us descending it. The north side of the pass has an actual trail.
Water: Several streams were still flowing in the canyons on the east side including at Pumice Butte. Plenty of water still on the north side. Clear water flowed in the gully just west of the Windy Pass junction on the N side of the pass and a bit further west on the trail. There was no water between the S. Toutle River and the stream at the Worm Flows camps, probably 10+ miles or so.
Route finding: We had no trouble finding the trail. All junctions were signed and it's well-marked through the blast zone by large cairns. In smaller stream beds and gullies, it helped to find the exit on the other side before we descended into the drainages. Poles mark the route through the lava boulder fields. Near the end for us (east side of lava), there were a couple places we couldn't see poles, but there was a faint trail in the sand or we were quickly able to spot the next piece of trail.
Rivers and gullys: S. Toutle and largest stream in blast zone were rock-hoppable. The descent on the rope on the north side of S. Toutle R was the trickiest--a couple steps down over a block. The lower rope for us ascending the south side of the S. Toutle was anchored in a way that made it hard to use on the slope and looked like it could knock rocks loose. We opted to ascend two slots to the left. The next rope and slope were pretty simple. As of July 13, the upper 2/3 of the rope on the N/W side of Sheep Canyon is not anchored. It is pulled down and lying beside the lower third that's still anchored. The slope was soft and not difficult to descend without the rope. Last rope ascent out of Sheep Canyon (S/E side) was short and straightforward.
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