Loowit Trail — Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018

A buddy and I decided to do the Loowit Trail as part of the UltraPedestrian Wilderness Challenge. Our goal was to complete the entire loop in a day, using a mixture of running and hiking.

Let me start by saying that this is one of the most terrain-diverse, stunning, and rewarding hikes in all of Washington. Ripe berries, fall foliage, wildflowers blooming, oh my!

There are a few things to note about this trail if you are considering to attempt it. Firstly, the trail is no larger than a bootpath, and in some places hard to find. There are large posts spread out to guide you, and strategically placed cairns you can follow, but there will be times were routefinding and navigation becomes necessary. In many places this trail becomes nothing but rocks - rocks which require you to jump, hop, skip, step, and climb in order to get over. Sure-footing is a must.
Secondly, make sure you bring a lot of water. The fill-ups are few and far between. My buddy and I were carrying 2.5-3L of water per person, though we only had to fill up once, at the Toutle River.
Finally, we would not have made this trek without leukotape, sunscreen, and hiking poles. All three things saved us at various points along the trip.

As mentioned above, the terrain of this trail is incredibly varied. We started from the south side, from the intersection of the June Lake trail and headed clockwise around the loop.

On the south side you can expect rock stepping and hopping, and gullies galore! You meander through wildflower fields, pristine meadows, large rock fields, and even a cool fir forest. You will also pass over the summer and winter summit climbing routes, and you should keep an eye out that you do not accidentally hop onto one of these trails.

On the west side you will head down into the largest gully of the trip, requiring you to cross the south fork of the Toutle River. The river is pretty low right now, and it is fairly straightforward to find a place to cross - no wet shoes necessary! In order to get in and out of the gully there are handy ropes set up which you use to climb. Afterwards you head up a steep path to the other side of the gully, which is essentially a crumbling rock bootpath leading you to a flat ridge.

Once on the north side of the mountain you hit stark desert rolling hills. After these hills you'll then enter the "blast zone" which has beautiful rocks strewn all over the countryside, and an excellent view into the crater. You will also be able to view a few waterfalls from afar, including the Loowit Falls. This is a .25 mile (one way) detour which we did not choose to take. The landscape here feels lunar and otherworldly. Once you pass this section, you then hit Windy Pass (aptly named) which is steep but brief. You are then treated to mindblowing views of the eastern side of the mountain, with a panoramic vista view of the Plains of Abraham.

Descending Windy Pass, you enter the east side of the mountain, and this is where most of our running occurred. The Plains of Abraham are mostly flat, with slight rolling hills and a brand new view of imposing Mount St. Helens. Running through this section with Helens to your right is absolutely exhilarating.

Once you make it through the plains, you'll be heading into the southeast side, where morale-killing gullies await! These gullies are some of the deepest in the trip, and are beautiful. You then pass incredible wildflowers and a hefty layer of underbrush as you begin your descent back into the trees. Once on the downhill section, we began running again and made it back to the June Lake intersection.

Phew. What an amazing trip! It is very hard to put into a trip report, but I hope some of this can be found useful.
Big shoutout to the numerous people we ran into along the way who gave us kind words of encouragement! The entire looped clocked in at 28 miles and 6k feet of ascent/descent. We started around 5:50 am and completed the loop at 5:10 pm.