June Lake is a beautiful trail and should be on the checklist for a yearly hike. We started out at the TH and noticed about 6 cars parked there.
We headed out toward the lake and only saw one couple on the way there.
We quickly reached the bridge over the stream that drains from the lake. I can't seem to find the name of that stream/creek, if there is one?
That's a really large old growth tree that the sign, to the right of the bridge, is nailed to!
There are several access points, to the lake, that are bordered by large brush. We accessed the southern side of the lake first.
We noticed a group of people at the northern side of the lake that my wife wanted to avoid. I wanted a straight-on picture of the falls and decided to go there anyway!
It was well worth it as you'll see in a bit.
The group of people was actually a boy scout group that was cleaning up the fire rings left by previous campers.
As I took some pictures my wife was talking to a couple. I asked if they were members of PH'ers and was happy to meet Bobcat and Kathryn (sorry if the spelling is wrong?)!
We had a short but very nice talk. At the continuous subtle urging of my wife (I can talk forever
) we continued our hike.
So......, we continued up the switchbacks at the north end of the lake and intersected the Loowit Trail.
I haven't hiked the section of the Loowit toward Ape
Canyon and we turned right to head in that direction. There's a lot of
lava and scree on this section of the trail. I looked back at my wife, knowing she wasn't a fan of this (yes, I know this is Mt. St. Helens and I LOVE this terrain) and pretended it wasn't a big deal!
It was looking pretty awesome to me and we continued our hike on this moonscape.
There are a few parts of this trail that are forested, but it's not as interesting as the exposed
lava fields. I was really enjoying the view as we climbed in elevation. The view, looking east, was outstanding and you can see the base of Mt. Adams in the distance!
The winds were gusting toward the NE and the Cascade Creek fire, at Mt. Adams, was barely discernable. We did see two small plumes just above the trees, and below the cloud ceiling, but my pictures really didn't catch it.
We started slowing our pace considerably as the terrain got a bit more rocky and the wife became more cautious.
I suggested she wait here as I wanted to at least take a peak around the bend. She was very agreable as there was cell service!
It's a good thing for her as the terrain only became a bit more difficult to traverse. Actually, I was loving this!
I stopped at a viewpoint of the base of Mt. St. Helens. I could see the seismometer that I know is located just above the Ape
Canyon trail, but it was still several miles away.
Heading back toward June Lake we decided to take the Loowit around toward Chocolate Falls. We noticed this amazing fungi on a snag. The color, shape and texture were amazing!
Does anyone know the name?
You will also see quite a few old growth trees in the vicinity of the June Lake and Loowit Trail intersection.
We didn't go very far up the trail before turning around and calling it a day. On the way back I went down to the creek that tracks along the June Lake trail.
There were quite a few more hikers and a couple of trail runners on the way back from June Lake. There were also a few more cars in the parking lot when we returned.
The hike was 7.5 miles with an elevation gain of about 1650ft.
Sorry about the incorrect spelling of Katherine's name.