Climb: St. Helens: Up, Down, and Around-Monitor Ridge, Loowit Trail

Date of Climb: 7/29/2006

Trip Report:
Having ruled out a one day circumnavigation of Rainier for the time being, I found I needed a different objective. St. Helens, once again accessible, captured my attention. The Loowit Trail, at 32 miles and estimated 6600 feet of elevation change, while decidedly lesser than the Wonderland Trail was still a full day's work. Or nearly a full day. I had never climbed St. Helens and couldn't help feeling that if I ran around the peak without going to the top, the trip would be incomplete. I decided to do both.

Friday's activities precluded an evening departure from Seattle. I hit the road at 4:30 AM, arriving at Climber's Bivouac at 0810. Cascade Bret of the extra climbing permit was just where he said he would be. I was on the trail by 0830, carrying one light extra layer, wind jacket, several gu packets, cheese, and a phantom baguette which I realized I had failed to pack once I was at timberline.

My original plan had been to circumambulate first, climb second. A ranger at the base of the climb tried hard to talk me out of my big plans, encouraging me not to waste my climbing permit. The summit was an easier target so I went for it first, sharing the route with several dozen individuals. Most seemed to have climbed it before. After 20 minutes at the rim I hastened downward, arriving at the Loowit just after noontime.

This trail, while not a climb, still offers plenty of sights. It's a geologic tour de force. Fields of lava boulders; huge gaping flood washes; ghost forests; in the blast zone, the closest thing to a desert landscape I've seen in Washington. The combination of landforms was so unusual as to be mildly disorienting. What planet am I on again? Travel was not overly difficult, if you don't mind a lot of deep pumice sand. I missed the trail up the far bank of the Toutle south fork, thereby providing myself with a crux of sorts: a 60 degree dirt and rock ascent wherein all solid objects, regardless of size, rolled away once weighted.

I had high hopes for a fast pace, but was not able to maintain it, between fatigue and rough terrain. I would have taken it slower down the home stretch, except that the ranger had told me I had two lava fields to cross at the end. Though I could cross these in the dark by headlamp, staying on trail would be extremely difficult: I might spend the rest of the night searching for the trail on the other side. This knowledge helped me to keep my pace up. I stepped off the last of the lava at about 9:40 as twilight waned. I closed the loop just after 10 and reached the car around 10:30.
Sleep beckoned more than sustenance, but with no water left, my neglected baguette too stale to consider, I drove on down. One near collision with an elk and one Dr. Pepper later, I headed north on 5, covering about 30 miles before I pulled over in exhaustion. I slept 6 hours in the driver's seat, woke to a pattering of rain on the windows at dawn, and headed home.

Gear Notes:
Trail shoes
Water filter

Approach Notes:
June Lake trailhead allows more direct access to the Loowit Trail but is several miles from the climbing route. Climbers' Bivouac offers good access to both.

Good job- don't hear too much of this one! Sounds like a sustained solo outing.

Nice job, Did you see any of those wild strawberries near the Bute camp trail junction? They are small but good. Were there any of those nasty flies at timberline or below?
I am going Sunday with my kid and being his first time I did not care to deal with those flies.

Again nice solo trip great idea.

Glad you had a chance to stretch your legs, doc.

Nice work Norman, you've inspired me. I couldnt tell, did you go clock-wise or CCW? Is one better than the other?

Hey Barry! you are a machine

Sorry to move off topic but has anyone done the wonderland in a day. I think that would mean something like almost four miles an hour for 24 hours.

They have. Here is a film about a couple of guys that did it. I bought the movie, its pretty good. Watch the trailer.

Jebus thats intense. Props to those guys.

It is amazing all the atheletes out there doing incredible things, mostly just for them selfs, not making millons and not doing ads for money.
I have been around St Helens in one day, done the Three sisters in 26 hrs and climbed Hood in about 2 hrs from timberline .
I am just lame compared to this stuff.
It just blows me away!

Thanks Norman. We knocked it out yesterday. Though not nearly as fast (sans summit too). We left June Lk. TH at 3:45a, went CCW making really good time, jogging most of the flats and enjoying seeing two large (30+) herds of Elk.

Then we slowed waaaay down at the S. Fork Toutle. We too missed the otherside of the Toutle and had to climb the crazy eroded slope. The climb up the forested section above that was challenging, but what really seemed endless were those boulder fields. From everythng I had read, I thought there would just be two. But from the beginning of the series to June Lk. TH, I counted 4.

We also noticed several fresh piles of half-digested huckleberries, evidence the bears, do in fact, shit in the woods.

Back to the car at 4:45 (~13 hrs. RT). Definitely a good one-day trip.

Cool!
The other-worldly quality of the blast zone is still fresh in my mind. I have seen nothing like it.