Hello hikers, I am posting an inquiry for a friend who lives out of town, but is a very experienced hiker. He and his daughter (college-age) are hoping to hike/backpack "around"- circumvent Mt. St.Helens in August. They are looking for a 4-5 day outing, and are open to other treks in that area if options are limited. Anyones' experiences or ideas are welcomed and I will pass on to them!
Thanks,
Jane
Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
Re: Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
The Loowit Trail (around St. Helens) is a fairly difficult trail, but if done in 4-5 days it wouldn't be bad at all as long as they had route-finding skills (I did it in a day)...there is a big area on the north side devistation zone that doesn't have a trail so you have to pick your way across the lava field and try to keep the cairns in sight. Similarly, there are sections on the west and south sides where you're crossing lava flows that can present a bit of a challenge, but they aren't too difficult.
The big challenge this year is with storm damage to the trail. Sheep Canyon may not be passable so the trail may not even be possible...I'm sure more information on that will come out as things melt. The trail is also very loose in other places as much of it is on loose scree that is always shifting and can get washed out from year to year as you climb in and out of the many gullies.
Spending 4-5 days on the trail may be overkill since the entire blast zone is off-limits to camping so that has to be done in a day. That leaves only 20 miles of hiking for the other 3-4 days.
Other options in the area if the trail is not passable are the Boundary Trail, Plains of Abraham (for a spectacular dayhike of the devistated area), Juniper Ridge or over to the Goat Rocks.
The big challenge this year is with storm damage to the trail. Sheep Canyon may not be passable so the trail may not even be possible...I'm sure more information on that will come out as things melt. The trail is also very loose in other places as much of it is on loose scree that is always shifting and can get washed out from year to year as you climb in and out of the many gullies.
Spending 4-5 days on the trail may be overkill since the entire blast zone is off-limits to camping so that has to be done in a day. That leaves only 20 miles of hiking for the other 3-4 days.
Other options in the area if the trail is not passable are the Boundary Trail, Plains of Abraham (for a spectacular dayhike of the devistated area), Juniper Ridge or over to the Goat Rocks.
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- Posts: 449
- Joined: June 20th, 2008, 11:38 am
Re: Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
Good water sources can be scarce up there late in the season but maybe not this year. One piece of advice is to tank up on water when they can. The little trickle on the S end of the Plains of Abraham can be flowing during the warm day and but gone the next morning. Great water at Willow Springs on the N side.
PCT class of 2012
Re: Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
I was considering this trip for this summer but from the research I did, the trail is not safely passable unless you have a pretty high tolerance for risk. The North Fork of the Toutle River has a massive washout of 75-100 feet with no easy bypass trail, and Sheep Canyon presents problems as well. We decided to bag it and head to Goat Rocks instead. Hoping the snow there is gone in the next couple weeks!
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- Posts: 449
- Joined: June 20th, 2008, 11:38 am
Re: Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
Hint - the elk seem to have no problems getting around these obstacles but that does mean you have to leave the human trail which adds to the challenge! There is also some info from our trip and another on nwhikers.
PCT class of 2012
Re: Hiking around Mt. St.Helens
Feel free to post the link if you have it handy.scrambler2 wrote:Hint - the elk seem to have no problems getting around these obstacles but that does mean you have to leave the human trail which adds to the challenge! There is also some info from our trip and another on nwhikers.