Loowit Trail #216

Hike Name: Loowit Trail #216 Location: southeast WA Length: 35 Submitted by: Paul Date Submitted: 0/0/00 Rating:	more Washington trail reviews Washington national parks Washington state parks
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Description
A challenging trail around Mount St. Helen's across rustic terain that shows the different personalities of this amazing area. From the recovering blast zone, to the wooded sections that hint at what used to be, to the high meadows, to the boulder fields and to the Plains of Abraham. This is truely an amazing hike with many great views of the Cascades. Depending on the time of year you go, there may not be much water on the trail. If there is, it tends to be full of till that will choke your filter.

Trail conditions vary from section to section and is, for the most part, well marked by posts and cairns. In several locations on the southern side of the mountain the trail has been washed out or passes through deep gullies and the trail becomes a scree scramble.

Route: There are many feeder trails onto the Loowit, so several options exist depending on how much time you plan to take, the route listed below is just a suggestion that seemed to work well.

Day 1: Leave Windy Ridge Trailhead on Truman Trail (#207), connect with the Windy Trail (#216E) and connect with the Loowit in the blast zone and hike across the pumice plains, the floating island lava flow, Studebaker Ridge, Castle Ridge and into the Toutle River valley. There are several camp sites just across the river, or you can also push on to Sheep Cayon.

Day 2: You begin the day with a climb on the edge of the forrest up to 4800 feet then decend to cross several washouts, some more than 1/8th of a mile wide and a couple hundred feet deep. The rest of the trail passes through high meadows and some boulder fields before begining to decend to June Lake. You can either spend the night at Chocolate Falls or at June Lake.
Just a note: If you think trail 244D is a shortcut to June Lake, think again. It takes you through a very rough boulder field.

Day 3: The 5.5 miles between June Lake and Ape Canyon seem to take forever as you cross more boulder fields and washouts, but there are great views of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and you get some peeks at Mt. Rainer. There is not much shade or water in this section so plan ahead. After intersecting with the Ape Canyon Trail, you enter the amazing Plains of Abraham.

From here you have the choice to either continue on the Loowit and cross over Windy Pass, or take the Abraham Trail (#216D). The Abraham Trail provides excellent views of the Smith Creek watershed and another area impacted by the blast. The second half of the Abraham Trail is a ridge route that is truely stunning. This trail eventually intersects with the Truman Trail, and you're on your way back to the trailhead.

Directions to Hike
There are several trailheads that lead to the Loowit Trail, however, Windy Ridge provides a good starting point.

From I-5, take 212 east to Randel. Take Forest Service Road #25 South into the Gifford Pinchot National Forrest. Continue on this road until you hit Forest Service Road #99 that takes you to Windy Ridge.

Contact Information
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Forest Headquarters
10600 N.E. 51st Circle
Vancouver, WA 98682
360-891-5000

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