Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

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kepPNW
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Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by kepPNW » August 21st, 2012, 6:14 pm

(TL;DR: Met my inner loon! Joined the 20-Mile Club. Mostly in the blast zone. :D)

I've wanted to get over to Loowit Falls, for some reason, ever since learning it was there. Every visit to JRO, hauling visiting friends up, or hiking around that area, the far call of the Pumice Plains has echoed in my ears. But JRO is a long haul, as is Windy Ridge, and when I spied the Ape Canyon trail I thought maybe I could come in from a little closer launch point. My pre-trip planning led me to think I'd be looking at about 16-18 miles. So much for planning. As I said, I busted right through the 20-mile wall, and just kept on going. Yes, the first time was very special. I have the feeling this TR may, likewise, take awhile. ;)

The Ape Canyon Trailhead (2875') is just past the Lahar on MSH's southeast flank. There is no Field Guide entry for it, but (Edit: bobcat put together most excellent FG entries for both the Ape Canyon Hike and Ape Canyon Trailhead after I'd made preps for the trip, so I stand corrected - thanks, bobcat!) If you head towards the Lava Canyon Trailhead, you'll essentially end up in the same place. There is a separate (unsigned) turnout specifically for Ape Canyon, right after you cross a bridge over the Muddy River, and just before the Lava Canyon TH. When I left Vancouver, it was quite overcast. As I drove east from Woodland, it only got more so. Before I even reached the turnoff for Ape Cave, the wipers were on intermittent. Very different, for late August.

When I finally arrived at the TH, about 8:45, I was actually the very first car. On a weekend, no less. By 9:00, I was on the trail, busting down every spider web that'd gone up overnight. I gotta say, this trail is a fine piece of work. It heads up a ridgeline paralleling the lahar, but staying within the forest, gradually gaining about 1500' over 4 miles, before opening up into the blast zone. Along the way, the path is softly blanketed with forest debris and fine dirt. (I hate to say it, but the fact they allow mountain bikes on this trail may be partly responsible for its good condition?) If I hadn't been walking up through clouds at this point, I would've had views of MSH, Hood, Adams, and Rainier on either side of the ridge, as I slowly climbed. The forest itself was a glorious old-growth mix of mostly cedar and fir.

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The forest was silent, as I climbed through the clouds.

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This Downy Woodpecker really just watched me pass by.

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Ape Canyon Trail is an absolute joy on the feet, as it slowly rises through the old growth. Or, more
importantly, as you pound back down after a day walking on volcanic debris!


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And these trees were big! This one had a handy camera rest nearby, but bigger ones eluded digital
capture. My poles were set to 125cm, for scale.


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The trail brushes against overlooks fairly often. Here's what could be a great shot of MSH!

At just over 4 miles in (4100'), you come around a corner, and are suddenly at the edge of the blast zone. MSH rises ahead, Rainier is off to your right, Adams behind you. Or they would be, on a clear day, anyway. I hit this point about 1.5 hours in, and the clouds were just starting to break up. :)

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Mount Saint Helens

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Mount Adams

The sign at the trailhead says it's 5.5 miles to the Loowit Trail, but I only measured 4.3 miles. The landscape has changed dramatically, of course. You're walking on pumice now, and really until you get back here again later in the day. As I rounded a corner, I encountered this guy, also hiking along the same trail.

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He seemed quite curious, stopped for a second to reconnoiter this stranger suddenly in his midst, then hustled off to tell all his friends and family that a guest had arrived.

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I have now left the clouds in the dust!

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Mount Adams, for real.

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The top of the ridge followed by the Ape Canyon Trail.

This is my first time to the Plains of Abraham, and I was sort of anticipating (or at least hoping) it'd still be covered in wildflowers as so gloriously documented by other TRs previously here. For the most part, though, the show seems to be pretty much over for this year. There was one exceptional display, off to one side, almost like a "model home" in a proposed development.

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Shortly, I discovered the source of all this glory. Right around the next bend was a swift moving creek of rather clear water. I noted this as a potential refill spot, as I fully expected it to be some of the best I'd see. (In the end, it was the second best!) The creek flowed right off the edge of a cliff, in a twisty-turny waterfall that required stopping to soak it in, and take way too many photos...

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Moving on across the plain, the landscape was barren. There appeared to be much evidence of a dense groundcover of lupine, but it had been almost universally grazed of anything tender. My immediate path would take me to the junction of the Abraham Trail, on which I'd return later, and on through Windy Pass towards the north face of MSH.

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Windy Pass

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Cairn Dweller

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Mount Margaret Backcountry comes into view at Abraham Trail junction.

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Starkness

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Evidence of significant runoff earlier in the season, but only a trickle now.

As I approached Windy Pass, I seem to have seriously lost the trail. It zigged, and I zagged, and ended up navigating up a pumice canyon. Not that I was cutting new trail, mind you! Others had clearly taken this path less traveled before. It was kinda nuts, with a bit of hand-scrambling in portions, and other portions where one step forward could easily have resulted in three steps sideways.

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Do you see a trail here? The upper looks good, but the lower is rock lined! Decisions...

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Yeah, this darn near almost looks like a trail, alright!

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Crap. Really?

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Finally, solid footholds! At the top of this draw, I once again find the real trail. <sigh>

Crossing Windy Pass puts you into the Restricted Zone. The views of Spirit Lake and the Backcountry pop up, and stay with you for some time to come!

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At saddle of Windy Pass

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Loowit Trail descending into the Pumice Plain along the side of Alpine Butte.

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Clear view to Rainier now, too!

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Funky berries to find out in this pumice desert! No idea what these are?

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Continuing to descend to the Pumice Plain.

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Entire north-facing hillside covered in lupine.

Again, incredibly stark. MSH was barely recognizable from this angle. It looked soooo different from all the iconic poses etched into the mind from far away.

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Just the eastern lip of the crater rim visible now.

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Another modest little stream. Looks clear enough to drink?

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Mostly, the landscape is barren, with only evidence of water long gone.

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Harry's Ridge, Coldwater Peak, and The Dome. Where I was just two weeks ago.

Then, I hit upon a grove of alder, and the trail ducked right into it. Holy cow!

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Picture doesn't do it justice. This was a lot of water!

The source turned out to be only 50 yards ahead. A spring, easily comparable to Wahkeena, just busting forth right out of the side of the mountain! Fifteen or twenty gallons per second. Ice cold. Delicious. Mmmmm...

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Free ice water! (Hey, it worked for Wall Drug.) Eight+ miles into my trip.

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Time to chug down what I brought, and refill here on the way back!

Trudging on, I laugh at the next creek. It was pretending to be chocolate milk, but that didn't fool me. I knew where my next source was now. Finally, several lying signs later and a couple miles later, Loowit Falls comes into view! When I reach the end of the trail, the GPS says 10.35 miles. But they always exaggerate, right?

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From about 1/4 mile away.

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Pretty impressive falls. Hard to take a picture of. No sanctioned way to access up close, though.

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Being right at the gaping mouth of the crater, helicopters were buzzing me non-stop.

It's a lot to take in, in all directions...

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Western wall of the crater rim kicking up some dust.

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An ocean of clouds blankets the Toutle Valley to the west.

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The magnificent hummocks below Harry's Ridge taking on all sorts of colors, even in midday.

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The pyramidal hummocks at the north end of Spirit Lake's Bear Cove.

Turning back now - had to happen sooner or later, right - I refill my 2 liter bladder at the cold spring. I actually reacted with great surprise at just how cold that water was! Oh, did it taste good. Probably drank half a liter before dipping in to top back off again. Leaving the spring, I turned north on the Windy Trail (216e) and followed that to where it met the Truman Trail (207). Turning left here would've taken one back to JRO, and continuing forward led up a jeep trail to Windy Ridge. (Which surprised me, for some reason. It did seem to be off-limits to unofficial vehicles.)

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Pumice desert along Windy Trail.

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Mount Hood in distance.

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Road back to Windy Ridge (2.x miles ahead).

Shortly after the Truman-Windy junction, the Abraham Trail (216d) juts off the jeep trail back towards the Plains of Abraham. This trail heads straight up a ridgeline. Gorgeousness ensues, especially the new views opening up to the east. The trail becomes rather steep in no time, gaining about 500' up a 40° pumice slope. The USFS (presumably?) put in some really funky but incredibly utilitarian log step ladders. Each one had sixteen logs, cabled together, and there were at least 10, maybe 12, in all.

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View east from the north end of Abraham Trail. Mount Adams in distance.

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View southeast, up the ridge towards Plains of Abraham. MSH just to the right.

A dust devil kicked up right next to me!

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It doesn't look like much, but man, this thing was spitting pumice every which way!!!

Then, something truly out of place floated past...

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Huh? Really? Out here?

Those log ladder things...

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As you can see, mountain bikes are allowed on the Abraham Trail.

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Toutle Valley still shrouded in clouds.

Some of the north facing slopes and hidden canyons were still sprouting an abundance of flowers...

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About here, I ran into a guy I'd seen many hours ago. He asked how far I still had to go. First time I'd really done the math. "Uhhhh, 8 or 9 miles?" Oh boy... It was almost 5:00pm. Probably time to see about winding this thing up.

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Thunderheads over (distant) Goat Rocks.

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Ravaged lupine on the Plains of Abraham. Didn't see a single damn elk this trip either.

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Smokey view of Mount Hood.

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No really, it's the shirt that makes my skin look that red!

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One more visit to the "model home" of flower shows.

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I guess seeing a White Pine sapling in here sort of surprised me. Seems out of place.

Finally! I arrive back in the forest and the comfort of the Ape Canyon Trail, again. The first shady log I happen across, I take the moment to pull out some Ibuprofin and trail mix. Looking at a long descent ahead, and the feet are definitely feeling the effect of all that rock.

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Shade! Ahhhhhh...!!!

The descent was uneventful. I'd now already gone farther than ever before. Was pretty much on autopilot. Weird scenes of Forest Gump running through my mind, as I trekked on down the trail. (Weird, because I saw less than one hiker(s) per hour, the whole time out, of course. Not a single other soul on Ape Canyon Trail. So I have no idea what all those others are doing in this shot, but I digress.)

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Long story, long... I made it! Quarter to eight, and I'm back at the trailhead. Last (only?) car here.

Cue drumroll... Reach for the GPS... O.M.G...!!!

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No way can even Garmin Math be off by that much! I really did do it!! Hot damn!!! :D :D :D

The stats offered by gpsfly (21.78 miles, 5100' EG) are only slightly off, and probably (no, make that no doubt) generalized.

http://gpsfly.org/gps_map.php?gps_id=1808&w=645&h=440

No apologies for the tediously long post this time. How many times does a guy crack into The 20-Mile Club? As a bonus for reading this far, attached is a KML file that contains the route as well as waypoints (with pictures) for all the water sources I found. For this late in the summer, those still running are probably almost worth expecting to find most of the time.
hk20120819-ApeCanyon-Plus.kml
Water sources along Loowit Trail on Pumice Plain and Plains of Abraham.
(379.1 KiB) Downloaded 593 times
I know I enjoyed this more than you, but thanks for listening. (Where's my pin?)

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:lol:
Last edited by kepPNW on August 23rd, 2012, 5:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Karl
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hlee
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by hlee » August 21st, 2012, 7:23 pm

Hahah, great job! Both on the trip, and the TR! Very entertaining. The Forrest Gump picture is so appropriate. That must be what all the loony hikers think: I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.

I always have a special appreciation for TRs that show (the few) places I have actually been to too.

I wonder if that spring you showed is the infamous Willow Springs that I never saw the entire length of the Willow Springs trail.

Love the marmot photos. I didn't see any, but I did have elk. Half dozen of one...

Did you note a lot of rock slides in and around the crater on your hike? It seems like they were nonstop for me. I was curious what others observed.

Also those balloons are truly random, haha. At first, for a second, it looked like the house from Up.

Well it makes me tired just reading all this, so good job!

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Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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mayhem
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by mayhem » August 21st, 2012, 10:24 pm

Great TR. & doubly looned up to boot :)

Looks like your first 20 was way more successful and more enjoyable than my first 20 miler. Actually mine was more like 19.5. I could see my car but was not sure I could make!! No joke!! I ran out of water and was, so, worn out & my feet & shinsplints were really sore, no.....really really sore feet & shins. I was all rashed up from a heavy pack. Thanks for sharing.

Usually I cannot follow TRs very well because of direction & spatial awareness issues. But I took so many pics on my 360 trip I could actually follow your TR :). You traveled in the oppisite direction as EP hike leader & my self.
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kepPNW
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by kepPNW » August 22nd, 2012, 6:10 am

hlee wrote:Hahah, great job! Both on the trip, and the TR! Very entertaining. The Forrest Gump picture is so appropriate. That must be what all the loony hikers think: I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now.
...
Well it makes me tired just reading all this, so good job!
Hey, much appreciated, Hannah! Really worried I might've provided overload there, but that place is just so incredibly varied, and just other-worldly photogenic, that this truly was a huge condensation of the novella version. But yeah, I don't recall ever relating to a movie character quite like that out on the trail before. :)

Lessee if I can respond to your questions...

I can't seem to find any name for that spring on my maps. And it appears the Willow Springs trail misses it by at least a few miles. Which way did you turn when you got to Loowit Trail?

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If that was Willow Springs, then the choice of which trail to name after it seems a bit bizarre, eh?

It was funny being that close to the crater, as I never really was able to see directly into it. I could, at best, see the northernmost lips of the crater rim (usually only one at a time). So I really wasn't aware of much rockfall. Certainly never heard any! I think there was no direct path for that sound to travel to me. But I did note quite often the dust that was rising up along the rim - especially on the western side.

Those pesky marmots delayed me at least 20 minutes! Maybe 30. I get such a kick out of them. The balloon was floating by at about the time I was seriously wondering WTH situation I'd put myself in. I mean, I had guys half my age marveling at the distance I was taking on at that point. Impulse was to take it as mega-compliments, but at the same time something deep inside was asking just how it spoke to my sanity.

So I took a quick look again at your MSH TR, and was really surprised at how much things had changed up there in just two weeks! Those elk you saw seemed to have eaten darn nearly every lupine and paintbrush within their reach. I wondered too, do you remember where you took that waterfalls shot? That sure looks like Loowit Falls, but I can't imagine where you could get that high angle on it.

Thanks much...
Karl
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by kepPNW » August 22nd, 2012, 8:21 am

mayhem wrote:Great TR. & doubly looned up to boot :)

Looks like your first 20 was way more successful and more enjoyable than my first 20 miler. Actually mine was more like 19.5. I could see my car but was not sure I could make!! No joke!! I ran out of water and was, so, worn out & my feet & shinsplints were really sore, no.....really really sore feet & shins. I was all rashed up from a heavy pack. Thanks for sharing.

Usually I cannot follow TRs very well because of direction & spatial awareness issues. But I took so many pics on my 360 trip I could actually follow your TR :). You traveled in the oppisite direction as EP hike leader & my self.
Hey, mayhem! Didn't mean to imply I was worthy of a "doubly loony" designation, at least not by the standards used here. (By "friends and family" standards, I shot past that long ago. :)) I am just constantly amazed at what you and others here pull off, week after week. No idea what is involved in training for that. I mean, I really only just got back on the trail again in May, after waaaaaay too many years at a desk. So I do feel pretty good about hitting this previously "impossible" number. But man, I definitely still feel it! I want to say mostly due to equipment failure (my boots took on a wrinkle in each heelcup that gave me dualing blisters about three weeks ago, that still aren't heeled up <groan>), but that's a cop-out. I thought my legs could've kept going, but when I sat down in the car, jeeeeez, it was a bit of a zombie drive back home.

I gotta go back and read those Loonwit Loop reports again, now that I finally travelled a fair section of it! I'd seriously love to get in on one of those, someday. But I can see I need to let my feet do a lot more recovery first, so it'll probably be next summer before I really start planning to shoot for The Next Level. At least on lava. :D

Thanks much...
Karl
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hlee
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by hlee » August 22nd, 2012, 3:21 pm

Well, all I know about Willow Springs is that I went the entire length of the Willow Springs trail and back (only 1.5 mi rountrip if I recall correctly) and never saw it. And I actually ran into PH member "water" and his wife, and they asked if I'd seen a spring, and I was like "Not that I recall." He commented on my TR and said "We had a GPS marker showing a spring but it was in the wrong direction from all info we had read. So I assumed I must have put it into the GPS wrong. Willow Spring(?) about 1 mile or more on the Loowit trail is pretty incredible." So my conclusion was that the spring in question really isn't ON the trail. Not sure why the trail is named thusly. For the brief time I was on Loowit Trail, it was in the direction of that spring. But he said it was an 'incredible' spring, and it's not near Willow Springs Trail, so it might be the one you photographed. I hope so, because I'd wanted to see photos of it.

There were two distinctive waterfalls in my photos. The one you linked to (here) isn't Loowit Falls. I'm sure it has a name, and equally sure I have no idea what the name is. Here is a zoomed-in view of Loowit Falls from my trip. I suppose it still looks pretty high up. I took it.. somewhere on either the Willow Springs Trail or just when I hit the Loowit Trail. I don't know my friend; I don't make the trails, I just follow them.

The photo you linked to I just took to show the frequent rockslides. I didn't even really notice the waterfall until I got home. But I believe it's where the star is on this photo. At the back of that gauge.

Also, do you have any conclusive evidence that the elk in question are responsible for the alleged lupine lunching? Because that sounds like libel to me. It might just as easily have been those marmots that YOU saw. They look pretty fat and satisfied. They were also much closer to the scene of the crime. The elk were innocently minding their own bachelor elk business on the other side of the pumice plain.

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by kepPNW » August 22nd, 2012, 5:12 pm

hlee wrote:... Willow Springs ... never saw it ... is pretty incredible ... isn't ON the trail ... might be the one you photographed. I hope so, because I'd wanted to see photos of it.
I think we found it, actually. A little googling turned up this trip report, where the description sounds identical. I haven't found any official sources yet, but I'll keep poking around. Seems one common name being used is Willow Springs Oasis (added for the googlebot).
hlee wrote:There were two distinctive waterfalls in my photos. The one you linked to (here) isn't Loowit Falls. I'm sure it has a name, and equally sure I have no idea what the name is. Here is a zoomed-in view of Loowit Falls from my trip.
Nooooo... Serious? You think those are two different falls? Hmmmm... Okay, after flipping back and forth a bunch, yeah, you're right. But you have no idea where this other one is? I see one, maybe two, possibilities. Making me think I need to go back there and just do a full Pumice Plains loop someday, now. (I'll wait till the wildflowers return, I think!)
hlee wrote:The photo you linked to I just took to show the frequent rockslides. I didn't even really notice the waterfall until I got home. But I believe it's where the star is on this photo. At the back of that gauge.
Ahhhh, that's where I was guessing. (I should read ahead, before replying.) That seems to be called the "Sasquatch Steps." Nice view, too! :)
hlee wrote:Also, do you have any conclusive evidence that the elk in question are responsible for the alleged lupine lunching? Because that sounds like libel to me. It might just as easily have been those marmots that YOU saw. They look pretty fat and satisfied. They were also much closer to the scene of the crime. The elk were innocently minding their own bachelor elk business on the other side of the pumice plain.
Not what the marmots told me. :lol:
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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by kepPNW » August 22nd, 2012, 5:19 pm

Loowit Falls is a real pain to capture, because the only vantage is due north of it looking straight into the sun. But here's a close-up view, fwiw...

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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by hlee » August 22nd, 2012, 6:30 pm

You had me second-guessing, but yeah I'm confident those are two different falls, haha. Maybe it doesn't have a name... Thanks for figuring out the name of that gouge though. Sasquatch strikes again.

Also, if you're hearing the marmots talking to you... you might want to invest in better water-filtering methods, if you know what I mean.

Hannah

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.
-- T.S. Eliot

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Re: Loowit Falls via Ape Canyon, 19-Aug-2012

Post by bobcat » August 22nd, 2012, 6:46 pm

Karl:

One correction: I posted a Field Guide entry for the Ape Canyon Hike several days before you went up (I had just done the hike - not your loony version - but did not post a Trip Report). I did not see any hoary marmots lounging about, but perhaps that's because I was passed by about a dozen garrulous mountain bikers just before I got to the marmots' 'hood.

Actually, I see your trip report has been added to the Field Guide entry!

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