MSH: Ape Canyon to June Lake loop, 10/8/2022

This forum is used to share your experiences out on the trails.
Post Reply
pdxalex
Posts: 60
Joined: July 26th, 2016, 4:04 pm

MSH: Ape Canyon to June Lake loop, 10/8/2022

Post by pdxalex » October 9th, 2022, 8:09 am

I've been thinking about a loop using the Ape Canyon, Loowit, and June Lake trails. If you didn't want to talk the 4.6 miles along FR 83 between the two trailheads, you'd need to leave a bike at one or the other. With the house to myself this weekend and weather that was far to nice to waste, that's what I opted to do.

I dropped a bike at the June Lake trailhead at 0800. The tiny lot was full as were all of the shoulder spots. I would find out later why. A few minutes later, I was at the Ape Canyon trailhead, the third car in the tiny lot but one of the two remaining spaces was filled as I started up the trail. The weather was incredible, around 58 at the trailhead, clear sky but hazy in the distance, no breeze. I was on the trail by 0820.

The Ape Canyon trail is in excellent shape. There are a couple of viewpoints of the lahar, the mountain, Mt. Adams, and the ridge across Ape Canyon as you near the top. The old growth grove is lovely. One hiker, the person who pulled up as I was starting, passed me on the way up and pretty quickly as he came back down, far before reaching the top. One mountain biker passed me. I saw no others on the trail.

The lahar
lahar.jpg
First view from the trail
first view.jpg
Opposing ridge
opposing ridge.jpg
The Loowit Trail was busy. I passed about a half dozen doing the full loop who had started at June Lake. Most were pretty chatty. Several asked about availability of water which was a bit scary considering they had just started. Then as I started negotiation of the horrible gully crossings at the top of the lahar, groups of trail runners who had started at June Lake passed by me. They were pretty chatty too. There was some sort of organized event of people staying at the Learning Center with groups of 15 going from June Lake to Johnston Ridge and others going in the opposite direction. I was surprised by how many asked about water. A couple only had a single 16 oz bottle and were almost out with a long, long way to go. The Lahar gully crossings are not particularly fun, especially if your going clockwise on the Loowit. The east sides of these gullys are crumbly ash and gravel and the trail is barely more than a boot's width. They can be long and steep and a couple have sharp drops that would leave you badly injured. It is much easier to go up these sides than down.

Follow the trail
follow the trail.jpg
The big payoff came after the lahar crossings as the trail passes through fields of crimson. The foliage change is well underway and it is beautiful.
color.jpg
color 4.jpg
color 2.jpg
After this, you head into the worm flows. The dramatic changes in environment are one of the things I enjoy about hiking around Mt. St. Helens. Once the trail dropped into the forest, I stopped at a handy log for lunch (sushi and a cup of sake). The trail down to June Lake is in good shape. There are a number of logs on the trail above the lake, one particularly large that you pass through then jump down onto the trail. There are one or two short steep sections with loose footing. The lake and water fall are pretty. At this point, there were many more people out, almost all just hiking up to the lake. The trail back to the parking lot is wide and well maintained.
june lake & falls.jpg
At this point, I picked up the bike which my body was not particularly appreciative of given the cramping in a hip and thigh while peddling. At a few points I had to push the blasted thing up a few uphill stretches. Nevertheless, stashing a bike at one of the trailheads is the way to go if you want to turn this into a loop, unless you want to walk for a couple of hours along a road. Despite my lackluster performance with the bike, this was a great day.

Regarding wildlife, I saw and heard some irritated chipmunks. There were some flies on the Ape Canyon trail but nothing very bothersome. There were some goat tracks on the Loowit and a few piles of scat. Otherwise, nothing else was visible. There weren't even any particularly distinct game trails.

There were occasional clusters of small white flowers that my phone identifies as western pearly everlasting.
western pearly everlasting.jpg

Post Reply