Loowit Trail

Loowit trail is a 30 mile trail that goes around Mount Saint Helens - an active volcano in the State of Washington and it is rated as one of more difficult trail to backpack due to various reasons. Everything that I had heard about this trail also seemed to suggest that way. Friends who have backpacked its entire length have gone as far as saying "you leave blood on the trail!". Now that a very bold statement to make. So, I was excited to see it for my self and at the same time little nervous about what I would find on the trail. Here is my story -

We started at June Lake TH and went anti-clockwise to minimize the last day. We had planned to camp at Toutle River for the first night and below Pumice Butte for the second. This makes first two days extremely difficult with long mileage. 

Day1: June Lake TH to South Fork Toutle River

We started promptly from the TH at 10 AM. Weather was iffy - clouds, fog and mist, but everybody was excited for the next 3 days. I was too, but nervous at the same time. First 1.5 miles, trail follows the cross-country ski trail to June Lake and it is all forested. Once we hit the junction with Loowit Trail, we turned left to do the loop counter-clockwise. I said - alright here we go! and we certainly did. First come the boulder field as we went past Warm Flaws (winter climbing route). We made our way through the boulders for 1.75 miles following wooden posts in a heavy fog going through few small ravines along the way. I am glad that we all had bright pack covers on our backpacks which served as beacon for the person following. 

Regrouping on the trail to get everyone in sight

Once we got through this area, it was mostly forested until we reached to the junction with Monitor Ridge Climbers trail, approximately 5 miles from the TH - well deserved calorie break. At this point, I had been really saying to myself "F#$k..why did I choose to do this!" During the break, we talked to few climbers coming down and asked about the weather - they said, it was all clear once you get above 5000 feet. What a bummer! We came to a realization that we are literally just walking in the cloud.

After the break, it was time for more boulders in thick fog. I made a suggestion earlier during our break that we stay close together since the visibility was probably 100 feet. 

Endless boulders and no visibility

Crossing a small washout

After 2.5 miles of walking through the maze of boulders trying to follow the wooden poles, we reached another junction with Butte Camp trail. Another 2 miles from there was the first big hurdle of the day. We had to go across the big washout in sheep canyon area. We had been crossing washouts all day till then, so when someone said this one is big, there was a part of me who said "F*&K..so what have we been till know!". I didn't take any pictures while scrambling up and down the scree side slopes on the canyon wall, but we managed to get up on the other side.

Once we got to the canyon, it seemed like the original trail was diverted downstream on the canyon wall due to some old washout. It is about a mile long detour. As soon as we climbed out of the canyon, weather started opening up a little bit and we had our first view of the mountain. At this point we were about 10 miles from the TH. We crossed the junction with sheep canyon trail and there was blue sky in front of us.  

First views of the day

From here, the trail was heavily forested. We went over a hill and on the other side to the South Fork Toutle River. Last mile, even though it was all downhill felt like eternity! Finally, I was able to see the river. I was happy that the day was over and I can rest, but at the same time I saw what I need to cross first thing in the morning! I was a little frightened by that.

What's on the menu for the breakfast

We had a nice conversation about the exciting day that we passed through and the challenges on the next day at the dinner table. Everyone was dead tired and it was bedtime at 9PM!

Day2: South Fork Toutle River to Plains of Abraham

Night was calm and I had  sound sleep after a long hard day. We woke up to a beautiful morning with partly cloudy sky. We all knew we have a hard day in front of us and I could feel that nervous energy at breakfast among us.

First thing in the morning - drop down to the Toutle River Canyon, find a crossing and get back up on the other side. We couldn't find a dry crossing, so it was time to put on sandals and wade. This whole up-down and wade part was certainly entertaining. 

Getting Down

Going back up on the otherside

Once back up on the other side, the whole day was supposed to be non-eventful except the last part where we have to go up the windy pass and come down on Plains of Abraham. We were still walking in thick clouds with nothing much to see. 

Walking in the clouds

Once we got into the blast zone, the weather cleared up and we could see the whole mountain and crater right in front of us.

This whole day was so much full of little ups and down, it felt even more tiring than the first day. Also, uncertain about our next water source and not knowing how much I have left in the water bladder, I started drinking less and less in an effort to conserve water. That made me dehydrated and not to mention glow in the dark pee at the end of the day. Closer we got to the Loowit falls, there were couple of stream crossings, which also meant water. It was just full of silt. I had to keep back flushing my filter all the time. After Loowit Falls, there was a fresh water spring. Since I knew I was dehydrated, I filtered a couple liters and drank one. It felt like life sprung back in my body. 

Soon, we got to the windy pass and 3 or 4 switchbacks later at the top. Tricky part was going downhill from there. From what I could remember from my day hike a year ago, it was all loose scree and coming down was little challenging. It lived up to the expectations. After getting down, we took a long break before walking across to Plains of Abraham. We found a nice camp spot on the plains next to the water source. 

Windy Pass in the background

Although, we didn't have any major uphill section on this day, we were slow as a whole group and everyone was super tired. Soon, I gathered 4 liters of water and I must have drank 2 liters out of it during dinner and the rest of the night. 

Day3: Out to the pizza!

I woke up at 5 to see the sunrise, but clouds had rolled in and again we were in the cloud. So after a lazy breakfast, everyone packed up and was stocked to see the end of this trail. We were still in clouds and visibility was very poor.

This was supposed to a very straight forward day with downhill for the most part. We still had to cross 2-3 deep canyons. It was challenging, but nothing like Troutle River. We were lazy walking this whole day. After 5 miles or so, I saw the timberline. I have never been so happy to see the end of any trail. In 1/2 mile or so, I came to a junction with June Lake trail - 2 days ago we started counter-clockwise from here. YAY!!!! 

Groups Shot!

All in all, this was a FUN trip. It is not your typical run-of-the-mill backpacking trip. I don't think I can explain the difficulty level of this hike in words (If I had to rate it, this would be 9/10). Would I do this again? May be no, but I certainly had some good sections. Going around an active volcano - I certainly saw drastic changes in the surroundings - going from think green woods to moonlike area in the blast zone. It was a nice group that made this possible!

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