Hiking With Gadget Girl

July 11, 2019 First Day on the Loowit Trail
Miles: 13

Arrived at the June Lake trailhead around 10:30am and quickly got on the trail. Weather was overcast and cool, just the way I like it. 3/10ths of a mile in, my hiking buddy Vicki realized that she had forgotten her sandals at the car and did a 180 and headed back to grab them. I slowly walked to June Lake and waited for her there. I was surprised how small June Lake was but it has a lovely waterfall cascading down to the lake. Vicki rejoined me and we started up the hill. 

We soon came to the dreaded rocky section where one follows white posts and rock cairns to find their way through the maze. Sometimes we would see a patch of sand and footprints but this section was mostly a huge boulder field that went on for miles.

We had to slow way down and take our time. We made it through this rock section without mishap. Arrived at Chocolate Falls and decided to fill our water bottles as there isn't water until the South Fork Toutle River. Thank goodness Chocolate Falls wasn't chocolate!

It started to drizzle a bit so put on the rain jacket and pack cover. Forty minutes later, it stopped. Took off jacket and cover and didn't need them for the rest of the trip. Met a man and his dog going the opposite way. He said he liked to climb to the 4,400 ft level and call his brother-in-law. Wasn't sure why, but to each their own. He said there were marmots in the next set of rocks but we never saw them.

Got out of the rocky section and continued up, up, up. Stopped for a potty break and waited a bit for Vicki. Hmmm, no Vicki. The intersection with the Climber's Bivouac trail was just around the corner so I continued and then waited for another 15 minutes. Still no Vicki. Meanwhile four day hikers came down from the volcano rim and passed by. Decided to turn around and go back and look for Vicki. Arrived at my potty spot and still no Vicki. I was getting worried now. Hopped over the fallen log, went a few minutes further and finally here comes Vicki. She thought I had gone a different way. I was a little puzzled as there wasn't an trail interection anywhere. Anyway, we were back together and continue our trek.

More boulder fields appeared and we made our way slowly through them. Yikes, time was flying by and we weren't getting in the miles we needed. Passed the Butte Camp trail where there is camping and water one mile 800 feet downhill. Continued another 1.8 miles where we arrived at the Blue Lake Wash. We had to hike down half a mile in order to get to the point where we could cross the steep ravine. There were ropes going down to the gully and back up the other side. That was exciting, let me tell you!

I went first and slowly slipped down the incline letting the rope slide through my hands to the next knot. I attempted to lean over to see what was over the little cliff and the sand under my foot decided to let go and before I knew it, I was dangling over the edge holding onto the rope for dear life. I saw a few kicked in sand steps and slowly swung my way over to them. Finally feet on the ground, body covered in sand. Vicki learned from my mishap and made it down without issue.

Over to the other side, we used the rope to haul ourselves up to the top. Going up was much easier than going down. Now we had about 4/10ths of a mile hike back up. We were getting pretty tired at this point but still had a little over three miles to go.

As we approached Crescent Ridge, we looked up and could see mountain goats way up high. Their white coats stood out against the deep green fields.

We passed a small campsite but there was no available water and we didn't have enough to dry camp so we started the 1,500 elevation drop down to the South Fork Toutle River. The wildflowers and views were astounding and kept us entertained as our poor knees took the brunt of the long downhill. We finally arrived at the South Fork Toutle River and had to use more ropes to descend to the sandy wash.

It was a 13 mile adventure today and we were pretty tired. We quickly set up our tents and cooked dinner. There were a few other campers, one group had seven boys and three men which looked like a Boy Scout Troop. Found out later that they were from the Church of Latter Day Saints and the boys came from all over the states for this big adventure. We were so glad they went to bed early as we really need to pee and there wasn't much cover. We didn't have much interest in putting our shoes on again and going back up and down the rope again. We made do with what we had and got the job done. 

July 12, 2019 - Second Day
Miles: 11

Woke up early and decided another hour of sleep wouldn't hurt so didn't roll out of bed until 6am. Looked out and the boy's group had already packed up and was on the rope climbing out of the ravine. The boys told me later that they were up at 4am packing up and preparing to break camp. 

We finished our morning chores, packed up and crossed the river. I went up the rope first and it was much steeper and longer than the rope out of the Blue Lake ravine incline. Halfway up there was a second rope to help get over the rock section.

Hauled ourselves up without incident and continued the elevation that we lost yesterday coming down to the Toutle River. After a few switchbacks, we crossed steep sandy slopes that continued climbing out of the Toutle drainage.

About 900 feet elevation gain, we arrived at the top and gazed with wonder at the mountain and of the rolling fields to the left of us. The trail was set quite close to the edge and we wondered if it was planned that way or if over time the sand has eroded away which brought the trail closer to the edge. Maybe sometime in the future the trail will be moved back a bit while the edge continues to erode away.

At this point, we had entered the Restricted Access Zone which meant no camping for 10 miles and with little water available for refills. Carried an extra liter of water hoping it was enough to get to the other side of the Zone. The trail finally turned away from the edge and mosied north for a ways into massive gorgeous wildflower fields. This was between the Castle Creek and Studebaker Creek drainages, both creek beds were dry. Primary flowers were lupin and Indian Paintbrush. Wow, what a treat.

We stopped for our morning snack and gazed out northward towards the Mt Margaret Backcountry area, which included our first view of Spirit Lake. As we were munching away, I noticed the ground was covered in tiny strawberry plants with ripe tiny strawberries on them. Bonus, fruit in the Restricted Access Zone! They were delicious.

I wasn't sure what I expected from the Restricted Access Zone but it wasn't a beautiful, non-stop show of wildflowers. Rock cairns and white posts continue to provide visual aids as we made our way eastbound across the northern part of the Loowit Trail.

After numerous rolling ravines and up and downs, we arrived at the edge of the blast zone called the Pumice Plain, that section that Mt St Helens did a number on back in 1980 when she literally blew her top off. Looking up at the volcano we could see numerous waterfalls that flowed into creeks that we rock hopped over.

The first one was quite milky, but the Loowit Creek water could be usable if in a pinch for water.

We also saw a very large herd of mountain goats way up high. Just after the blast zone we came across an Oasis of beautiful spring water. Some people call this Willow Spring because of all the willows surrounding it. It was also loaded with (what I think is) Penstemon flowers and yellow catapillers. 

After water refills, we continued on and discovered that the trail went up a steep rocky side to Windy Pass. We slowly and carefully picked our way upwards until we arrived at Windy Pass, appropriately named by the way. After filling our gaze from whence we came, we turned around and admired the Plains of Abraham.

We could see the boys way below us. The trail crossed another steep, sandy hillside but this was much steeper than the one we crossed earlier in the day. We took our time on this one too. Stopped to snap a picture of Mt Adams in the distance, a blue and white blob in sharp contrast to the dry, arid plains and sand hills we were currently navigating down to. Arrived safe and sound at the bottom and had a nice chat with the boys.

It was such a delight to talk to them, so polite. I asked them if they were enjoying their trip and it was a resounding YES from all of them. They were loving their adventure!

We continued across the Plains of Abraham and turned south at the intersection. This is where mountain bikes are allowed and there were a lot of them. I could see why as this whole section was filled with wildflowers. Stunning.

We heard that there was water at Pumice Butte so that's where we headed. Yes, there was a tiny, tiny stream that pooled some water so after an 11 mile day, we called it good and made camp. The boys and their leaders also made camp behind us. As we were making dinner, I overheard the boys in the thick bushes behind us. They had orders to dig their poop holes before bed. One boy says, "I've finished my poop hole! I'm glad because I know I'm going to use it tonight!" It was hilarous.

July 13, 2019 - Third Day
Miles: 7

I looked out at 5:30am and voila! There was a gorgeous sunrise happening. Grabbed the camera, got out of my tent, and started snapping pictures of Adams and Hood. Wow, what a treat.

We knew it was going to be a short day today, seven miles back to the car, so we took our time and actually had a hot cup of coffee with breakfast. Had quite a bit of condensation in the tent so was happy the sun broke through the clouds and helped with some of the drying process.

I was hoping to beat the boys back on the trail, but alas, no such luck. No big deal, we leap frogged with three of them as they were the quickest of the whole group. They were quite entertaining. At about 3/4 of a mile, Vicki mentioned that she left her sandals back at camp. I asked her if she wanted to go back and get them, I was willing to wait. She said no, too much distance. All righty then.

I made the mistake of assuming that this was going to be a easy hike back to the car. Ha ha ha. Challenging sandy side hills down and up deep ravines into the Muddy River, Shoestring, Pine, and Fire Creeks and other water drainages.

Then we entered a section called worm flows which reminded me of terrain in the Sierra. They weren't as bad as the first day but they held their own exciting section. Then we entered a shrub and wildflower filled section that was beautiful. I was a little ways ahead of Vicki and didn't know that she had tripped and fell straight down and scratched her knee up enough to make it bleed. Hiking on we came through large rolling hills that had a strong smell of mountain goats. Sure enough, there was goat fleece attached to the small bushes here and there. We looked everywhere but didn't see any goats.

On the last couple of miles, we were ready to be done with rocks. There was some steep rocky sections to navigate, although the boys themselves were like mountain goats, nimbly stepping from rock to rock, having the time of their lives.

They finally took a water break and to wait up for the rest of their crew while we surged ahead into the forest hoping to be done with rocks. Not quite yet, still had a couple more small rock sections to get through. Being Saturday, we started to see day hikers on the trail, especially the closer we got to our starting point of the Loowit Trail. Finally, we arrived at the sign and celebrated the completed circumference of the Loowit Trail. Whoowee! Wow, what a trail. Fantastic trip. There were challenging sections but we loved every minute of it.