Blue Lake Trailhead – Mt. St. Helens

[Peder]

Forest Road 81 is washed out from milepost 11 (about 2 ½ miles from the trailhead):

You can still get to the Blue Lake Trailhead; you just need to continue on SR 503 past Cougar and catch the eastern end of Road 81. You will still have to walk the last few hundred yards to the trailhead parking:

On the other hand, parking fees were discounted last autumn:

I hiked from milepost 11, adding about 5 miles to my trip. That’s the risk of being new to an area and travelling without a proper map! I really enjoyed Sheep Canyon, it was gorgeous and I had it to myself.

This post is in the hope that I can save some other unprepared traveler 5 miles of hiking! The start of the trail (close to Blue Lake) was easy to find.

[Sore Feet]

Man that area is a mess. I hope the FS has the money to clean it up...two years later.
There's one upsell to converting MSHNVM to a National Park, the Dept. of the Interior actually has a budget.

[jeffstatt]

Impressive photos! Whoa. that whole area is in need of TLC.

Did you happen to catch this story from the Columbian last week?
http://www.columbian.com/sports/localNe ... d-list.cfm

[fettster]

Thanks for the heads up, that's great info about the alternative route. That is a hike that has interested me for a while. Did you do the whole loop? What were conditions like on the trail?

[Peder]

I did the whole loop at the end of September 2008. The trail is a little overgrown but gets no worse than this:

I warmly recommend Sheep Canyon; it is grand and isolated - at least on weekdays. To find the start of trail, just walk up the mudslide toward Blue Lake and then head left onto the trail before the lake.

[scrambler2]

We'll be doing the Loowit trail this weekend.

Paul(&Kate)