Opening picture: looking back over the South Fork Toutle, from Crescent Ridge
I snuck in a late-ish season backpack last week, all the way around St. Helens on the Loowit, counterclockwise from June Lake. I'd been vaguely thinking about doing it in a day, but, well... my winter transition from hiker to sloth is apparently already in progress, so I took two, even though it meant spending the second walking through sort of nasty sleet.
Monday, October 16
I slept in Monday, stopped for a couple dozen coffees on my way to the TH, and wasn't hiking until nearly ten. Oh well.
The mile and change to June Lake was easy and beautiful, filled with fall colors.
Snow showed up just as I hit the Loowit, and steadily grew as climbed up into the Worm Flows.
For some reason, I've always thought of the section between June Lake and Ape Canyon as mellow, but, with just enough snow to obscure some of the rockier sections, it was slow going. I was also surprised to run into a few route finding issues, all involving snow-obscured trail. It'd probably be doable without a GPS, but I was glad to have one all the same.
After what felt like way too long, I hit the Ape Canyon junction, and the Plains of Abraham, where I cut up toward Windy Pass.
If there was an actual trail on the south side of the pass, it was doing an excellent job of hiding, so I ended up following a mostly reasonable goat track up instead. It was one of those step forward, slide back a step situations. But the basic laws of arithmetic notwithstanding, I did eventually make it up, to lovely views back at Adams, and forward to the Mt. Margaret Backcountry.
There was a proper human trail on the north side, though I might actually have preferred to follow the goats.
Traversing the blast zone was as pleasant as ever, with a goat and two herds of elk for company. I don't think I've ever been in another place that feels as... I don't know, in progress as this does.
The scenery west of the Sasquatch Steps was all new to me, and it was a thrill to see, even if I was starting to get a touch nervous about time.
There are a few ups and downs between the Blast Zone and South Fork Toutle, but nothing major, and soon I was rushing down the switchbacks, as the day was just beginning to give way to evening.
I stopped at the river to grab some water for the night, then climbed back out, and set up camp at one of several small spots on the south side of the river. Then it was just a lovely night, cooking dinner, drinking the entirety of my bourbon ration, and wondering when the predicted rain would start.
Tuesday, October 17
Well, the rain held off for most of the night, and I woke up to a very light sprinkling. After gingerly packing up and deciding to wait on breakfast, I started on what I thought would be a rough climb up Crescent Ridge.
It was certainly steep in places, but never really all that bad, and pretty enough to keep one's mind off it.
Halfway up, I met a half dozen elk, I guess out for brunch, and had a very slight disagreement about the right of way. But they were freaking majestic, rollicking through the woods, and it was heartbreaking, a few minutes later, to hear a couple gunshots from down below.
Anyway, soon the dirt gave way to snow, and my storm blew over the mountain.
After the Sheep Canyon junction, the snow and sleet got worst, at times approaching 18" covering the talus, with sleet creating something very close to a whiteout. And the crossings were, for someone who's never been there, surprisingly difficult: a couple times I found myself climbing hand-over-hand up scree. And, worst of all, I couldn't find my Snickers!
Eventually, though, I just put my head down and made the miles, past Butte Camp to the Climber's Trail, and, finally, back into the trees, where I found my Snickers, hiding in my rainpants.
Once back safely at June Lake, I paused for a second to have a (very!) late breakfast, and, as I always do at the end of trips like this, to look back through some pictures. I'll have to come back next summer and redo the section between Crescent and Monitor Ridges: I'm sure it's beautiful up there, when you can see more than 20'. But overall, it was such a lovely trip, and I felt so lucky to sneak it in, before the winter comes for good.
