St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

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Chip Down
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St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by Chip Down » June 15th, 2019, 9:10 pm

Well, I made an exciting discovery today. Exciting to me, anyway. YMMV.

Looking for something new to do on MSH, I noticed the gully west of June Lake holds snow a little lower than surrounding terrain (per Google Earth image). I was enticed. I followed the gully up, taking a GE tour up from June Lake. Up past the Loowit Trail crossing, up to the snow, up the winding gully to a very short bare spot which I assumed was a waterfall. Hey, wait, is that the waterfall I investigated a summer or two ago from Worm Flows? I pulled back to I could see an overview. No other waterfalls spotted, so that's probably the one.

Here's where it gets really fun: On my previous trip, I was amazed to discover the gully above the waterfall winds all the way up to the rim. But I didn't realize that below the waterfall, it's also miraculously continuous all the way down to Road 83. So that means you can follow this gully continuously from Rd 83 all the way to the crater rim! (Except for the falls, of course.)Tell me that's not exciting! I'm embarrassed I never noticed this.

I had to go check it out. I didn't start at the road; I figured it would be drudgery down there. So I cheated, hiking the June Lake trail almost to the June Creek bridge (just before the lake). I followed June Creek to the gully and confirmed what I suspected: the gully is dry above the point where June Creek dumps in. I don't know why I suspected this. Maybe because it's just the way MSH is; you don't see creeks running down her dusty rubble slopes.

I followed the gully up, along the edge rather than down in it, because the scenery was too nice to miss out on. But eventually I dropped in, first to a sandy flat bottom, and eventually snow at 4550'. I somehow managed to miss the trail crossing. I'm sure I would have seen it if I was still following the rim, but down in the gully the wasn't much sign of it. I bet there were cairns, but I wasn't watching closely enough. Anyway, as I got higher up the gully, I got spooked by rockfall. The gully floor was littered with rocks on the snow, and I witnessed two events just 5 minutes apart. Although the west edge of the gully was easier and more scenic, I've been there, so I stuck to the dusty crumbly ugly east side.

At the top of the falls, I didn't continue up. Been there, done that. Went east in search of new adventures (towards shoestring). Initially it was fun, but as I got lower I ran out of luck, and snow, and travel became increasingly treacherous. Finally made it to Loowit trail. Too crowded; I saw three hikers in the time it took me to drop out of the lava flow into the forest as I headed towards the June Lake junction. So I bailed, and hit the sloppy confusing network of ski trails, did some bushwhacking, had no idea where I was, knew if I kept going down/south I was safe, startled a bear, it scampered off. Oh, that reminds me, no goats today. Probably because my route was so rocky, just an inhospitable wasteland.
Attachments
0.JPG
1.jpg
Slightly above June Lake, the gully narrowed to a slot.
2.jpg
An S turn allowed me to get this look straight up the gully.
3.jpg
Briefly, gully bottom was the easiest option.
4.jpg
Finally on snow, starting to get out of the cloud layer.
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A little higher, looking down on the cloud zone.
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Just slightly east of the top of the falls, looking down on my route. From here, it looks like the gully isn't very distinct, but it's generally pretty easy to follow.
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A little geological whimsy.
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That moonscape landing has been on my to-do list.
9.jpg
Disappointed to discover partial proceeds go to the Mount $aint Helen$ In$titute.

Webfoot
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by Webfoot » June 15th, 2019, 9:44 pm

Interesting place. Thanks as always for sharing the experience. Those rocks do seem concerning; glad you're safe.

Also: "Disappointed to discover partial proceeds go to the Mount $aint Helen$ In$titute." :lol:

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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by Chip Down » June 15th, 2019, 10:12 pm

Oh, I guess I forgot that the Shoestring gully, a little CCW from June, sort of offers a similar experience. But it gets a little jumbled, and the gully above Loowit Trail really isn't safe to climb except maybe in early spring, and it leads to an unsatisfying unusually low point on the rim. Still, strictly from a geologist's perspective, it can be considered a continuous feature from road to rim.

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retired jerry
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by retired jerry » June 16th, 2019, 5:30 am

easier to walk up gully of snow rather than if it was loose rocks?

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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by wildcat » September 15th, 2021, 8:32 pm

I was weekend camping at June Lake with a dude from work and his two doggies last October. (We had planned to go the beginning of September but the smoke storm delayed it about a month.) That Sunday morning before breakfast, while he was still asleep, I decided to explore the area a bit and hiked up the then-dry creekbed to a little ways south of the bottom marker of your "June Gully" tag. I took DFW up there later in the day and into the slot canyon, which was way cool and eerily silent. There was still some blowdown along the main JL trail that wasn't there when we day-hiked it that August, undoubtedly from the hurricane-force easterly winds that brought the smoke storm into the region in September. Most had been cleared by the time of our October trip.

Dude busted a rib earlier this summer due to a bizarre dirt bike wipeout camping at MSH with some other people, and is understandably reluctant to backpack, but is doing better now (still quite sore) and hopefully we'll be able to get to the June Lake area again before this year's fall/winter monsoon season hits. Thanks for the report, I now have some idea for further exploration next time we're out there.
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by wildcat » September 19th, 2021, 11:28 am

confirmed what I suspected: the gully is dry above the point where June Creek dumps in. I don't know why I suspected this. Maybe because it's just the way MSH is; you don't see creeks running down her dusty rubble slopes.
I think it depends the time of year you go. Early last August (2020) we did the Swift Creek/Loowit/June Lake/Pine Marten loop. We had intended to use the loowit as the upper point of the loop so as to see Chocolate Falls then come down using the June Lake trail exit but were advised by another hiker coming back down Swift, "oh, there's not much to see up there, it's just a little trickle and the Loowit's really nothing special". Well, okay. DFW decided we take this other lower ski trail (forget its name) and ended up way off course, losing the trail and turning into a scramble over the lower edge of the boulder field/lava flow. When we found the east end of the trail a couple hours later, at the mossy meadow adjacent the lava field (the sparsely-forested tan patch in the lower left of the Google screengrab, southwest of June Lake) the gully was flowing and there was a creek, to the relief of DFW's two doggies (since he left their water dish back at the truck...), albeit a very shallow one.

When we returned to camp in October the water had been shut off and the gully above June Creek was dry as you observed in your 2019 hike.
So I cheated, hiking the June Lake trail almost to the June Creek bridge (just before the lake). I followed June Creek to the gully
An even easier route to the gully above June Creek is to hike all the way up to the lake, go left (west) at really any point at the lake clearing then do a quick scramble over a few boulders and down into the gully.
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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by Chip Down » September 19th, 2021, 1:25 pm

wildcat wrote:
September 19th, 2021, 11:28 am
When we found the east end of the trail a couple hours later, at the mossy meadow adjacent the lava field (the sparsely-forested tan patch in the lower left of the Google screengrab, southwest of June Lake) the gully was flowing and there was a creek, to the relief of DFW's two doggies (since he left their water dish back at the truck...), albeit a very shallow one.
That's a really nice spot, and with water it would be a great campsite. But not knowing if/when water will be available, it's risky. One could pack it from June Lake, but that's not as pleasant.

Wait, there's a trail near there? Hmm.

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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by wildcat » September 19th, 2021, 3:40 pm

Wait, there's a trail near there? Hmm.
Yeah, or something that is supposed to kind of resemble one, anyways. I guess it sort of follows the bottom edge of the lava/boulder field (at least in the meadow it does) then peters out and disappears into the woods. I think it's actually a ski trail since at winter Swift Creek and Pine Marten trails function as snowmobile tracks*. There is a sign at the trail junction with Swift Creek but past it the trail is poorly marked (if marked at all) in some parts and in others it just vanishes entirely, so you're likely to easily lose it and have your hike become a good mile and a half or so scramble across BIG lava boulders**. Contrary to my post on another thread this actually would be a good place to have a functioning GPS unit. But early that Sunday morning we talked to a bowhunter passing by our camp, who said he was headed into the forest via that pseudo-trail so there must be something there.

Where the boulder field abuts the meadow there are several fiberglass posts, like the kind you see along highway shoulders, denoting the GP/MSH boundary. (Unrelated, but thought it worth noting.)

* They connect to the Marble Mountain Snow Park along 83, which can also be used as an alternative trailhead if doing them as a loop in the summer. Park in the big lot across the street; MM's gate will likely be closed but you can sneak around it easily. There's also a composting toilet there.

** Boots with decent ankle support and lockdown, and sturdy tread are a must. This is NOT a scrambe you would want to do in Chacos! Personally I wear Irish Setter Elk Tracker 882s, refitted with Vibram soles, when boots-hiking. Some would consider that overkill, but then as a grocery stockist I'm sometimes known to work the floor entire shifts in my gigantic Alpinestar Tech 7 motocross boots. DFW hiked the whole thing in Solomon trail runners. To each his own.
Last edited by wildcat on April 12th, 2022, 12:01 pm, edited 5 times in total.
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Chip Down
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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by Chip Down » September 19th, 2021, 3:52 pm

Oh, yeah, the ski trails. There's a nice network that can make for fun exploring.

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Re: St Helens: June Gully (most direct rim route on MSH?)

Post by wildcat » September 19th, 2021, 4:39 pm

What/where was that big metal thing you set your beer glass on? Boundary/range marker of some sort?
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