Backpack - Loowit Trail

8am at Climbers Bivouac which is on the south side of Mt St Helens.  A Northwest Forest Pass or an Interagency Pass is required for parking.

I strongly recommend arriving the night before and camping at the trailhead.

Directions to the trailhead:  From the town of Cougar, drive east on Forest Road 90 just one mile past the Swift Dam, and turn left (north) onto FR 83. Continue north on FR 83 to the junction with FR 81. Turn left onto FR 81 and drive 1.6 miles before turning right onto FR 830. Follow this to the large trailhead parking lot. The trailhead is called Climbers' Bivouac since it is the starting point for the summer climbing route to the summit.  There are composting toilets.

COVID -19:  Adhering to the Mountaineers updated policy and my preference this trip is only open to participants that have been fully vaccinated for Covid-19. 

The Loowit trail passes through a wide variety of terrain, sometimes rather stark but it provides its own type of unique beauty resulting from the recent eruption.  It may present a few navigational challenges from time to time especially when traveling through the lava flows.  There will be several times where for many miles there will be no cover from the sun and the elements.  There will also be places where the footing may be difficult in scree, lava and pumice particularly in the gullies.  But even though sometimes difficult and challenging it will be a great experience to see this type of landscape.

There will be some streams that are silty and others that are clear.  The sources at times will be long distances apart so we will be carrying a bit more water than normal, especially if the temperatures are high.  Early July should be a good time to do this route as snow should not be an issue and the water sources should be flowing.  Also, with 7,000 ft plus cumulative elevation gain we will be ascending in excess of 2,000 ft per day on average.  While this is not excessive it is challenging by the very nature of the ruggedness of the trail and it is not a beginner backpack trip.

Day #1:  10.2 miles.  We will gain the Loowit trail from the Ptarmigan trail which leaves from the Climbers Bivouac trailhead.  Upon reaching the Loowit trail we will go left or west and hike clockwise around the southwest side of the mountain making our way to the south side of the South Fork Toutle River where we will camp for the first night.

 Day #2:  11.5 miles.  We will start this day with a ford of the South Fork Toutle River and we are then committed to hike through the entire blast zone on the north side of the mountain to the south end of the Plains of Abraham which is on the east side of the mountain where we will camp for the second night  (no camping is allowed within the blast zone).  There will be no tree cover for nearly the entire day and be prepared for a lot of sun.  If time permits and if the group is feeling strong we may take a 1.2 mile roundtrip side hike to visit Loowit Falls.  

Day #3:  10.8 miles.  We will hike around the southeast side of the mountain through the Muddy River mudflow, Worm Flows and return to the Ptarmigan trail leading us back to our cars at the Climbers Bivouac trailhead.

 The following is a link to a Gaia map of the route.  Note that the Gaia mileage is not inclusive of the four miles of round trip mileage required to access the Loowit trail via the Ptarmigan trail.  Total mileage is roughly 32.5 miles.

 https://www.gaiagps.com/public/Yub42SO6IAeOx7BiLJ5yulbs

If the forecast calls for a significant precipitation front to move in this backpack trip will be rescheduled.  Or, if we are having a significant heat wave in the northwest it will also be rescheduled.  It is not very desirable to be hiking through the exposed blast zone in extreme heat.

I will be following up with more details via email as we get closer to the dates of the trip.

AS ALREADY MENTIONED THIS IS A LEADER PERMISSION TRIP.  DO NOT SEND ME LEADER PERMISSION REQUESTS UNTIL THE REGISTRATION OPENS!  IN THE REQUEST PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN DOING OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS AS WELL AS RECENT EXPERIENCE TO MAKE YOU A GOOD MATCH FOR THIS TRIP.  BE CERTAIN THAT YOU ARE OKAY WITH THE LONG MILEAGE FOR THREE DAYS IN A ROW (POSSIBLY IN THE HEAT) AS WELL AS THE RUGGED NATURE OF THE TRAIL WITH THE LAVA AND THE STEEPNESS OF SOME OF THE GULLIES THAT HAVE TO BE CROSSED.