Mount Saint Helens National Volcanic Monument Things to Do Tips by mtncorg Top 5 Page for this destination

SHEEP CANYON

After wandering across the moonscape of the uppermost reaches of Sheep Canyon, you come to a trail junction with the Sheep Canyon trail - you are on the Loowit Trail. You could continue on the Loowit Trail - according to the map - and loop back to you car via the Butte Camp; the sign says ‘Butte Camp 2 ¾ miles’ - but the sign doesn’t know the trail is washed out in little over a half mile. There is a long detour around involving what looked like an extra mile and loss and gain off 500 feet. The mountain corgi’s tongue was reaching into the ash at this point, however, so we backtracked to the Sheep Canyon Trail - the normal leg of the loop. From the Loowit Trail junction, you descend about 1200 feet in about 1.6 miles back to the Blue Lake trail. The trail stays in the shade for the most part with a couple of great viewpoints of St Helens rising high above the mudflow-scoured Sheep Canyon.

Aside: When we reached the car and the boots were taken off - 2.5 miles beyond the bottom of the Sheep Canyon Trail junction with the Toutle Trail - it took some cajoling to get the Little Girl out from under the car where she is wont to wander at the end of a tough day. Trekking poles are needed on occasions such as this.

BLAST ZONE WANDERS

Doing the Sheep Canyon loop, you next head south for about 1.2 miles through early July wildflowers and alpine grasses reaching high up the mountain flanks. The dead trees still reach up out of the ground, 25 years after the fact!

LOOWIT/ST HELENS VIEW

While the devastation of the Blast Zone is amazing, so is the northwestern edge of the Crater Rim. The Toutle Glacier remnants still feed the waters below. Volcanic ash whips off the Crater rim. What was that rumbling noise I just felt?!!

LOOWIT/SOUTH FORK TOUTLE VIEWPOINT

At the point where the trail from Sheep Canyon - the Toutle Trail - meets up with the Loowit Trail - almost at the river’s edge, - you turn right and head up the Loowit Trail. If you go left, you go nowhere as was evidenced by some deer femurs I shortly came across in a vain attempt at finding a corgi-able crossing of the river. Turn right and you will climb 1500 feet in the next 1.5 miles - most of the way in shade. The views get better as you continue to climb. Go late in June through mid-July for a wildflower display, as well. Up high, you come into the Blast Zone and your views expand, especially to the north - Rainier pops above the barren peaks of the Mt Margaret Backcountry Area; Coldwater Ridge and Johnson Ridge Visitor Centers can be seen, as well as the amazing South Fork of the Toutle Canyon. A large rock invites a stop where the Loowit Trail turns south near the timberline.

SOUTH FORK OF THE TOUTLE CANYON

Many river valley coming off Cascade glaciated volcanoes - of which, St Helens is one -show dramatic evidence of glaciation. Glaciation is what created this huge valley coming off the northwestern rim of the Crater. Add to that that now you are within the Blast Zone and the direct path of glaciers and mud that turned instantaneously into torrents of erosive scour in the eruption of May 1980 and you have this scene of utter devastation, still impressive 25 years after the fact. You can try and cross the Toutle and continue north on the Loowit Trail - which you meet up with near the river - but the trail is closed at the top of the canyon and the river crossing is a wet one - there is no bridge. With a 30 lb/12 kg mountain corgi who does not like to get wet = a stream carry, no way I was going across this river ;-\

SHEEP CANYON LOOP

Continuing past Blue Lake on the Toutle Trail #238 - sometimes signposted - is the main reason to be up here. At 2.5 miles and maybe some 500 feet gained - 300 lost - you come to an idyllic trail junction. Bear left and head for the South Fork Toutle River - sign says 1.5 miles. You could go right and head up the Sheep Canyon Trail, but I think that is better for the latter part of the loop. There is a very nice place to picnic or camp about 30 meters down this trail though, where it crosses a side creek to Sheep Creek.

Staying with the Toutle Trail, you get to lose another couple of hundred feet after crossing the grand bridge that crosses the lahar-scoured Sheep Canyon.

Directions: follow directions of Blue Lake trailhead

BLUE LAKE AND TRAILHEAD

There are three great hikes on what I think of as the South Side of St Helens. Now ‘South Side’ is not exactly correct, but I think of all of the trails accessed via roads coming up from the Lewis River reservoirs -south of Mt St Helens -near Cougar as being ‘south’. The “North Side’ is that area of the mountain that was blown away in the eruption - the open part of the horseshoe crater rim. Of the hikes from the ‘south’, number one is ‘the Climb’ - not available for 2005 because of volcanic activity - which is really only a stiff hike. Number two, is the hike up the Ape Canyon trail onto the desolate wastes of the Plains of Abraham. Number three, the hike around the Sheep Canyon loop on the northwest edge of the crater horseshoe. The trail is about 12 miles long with about 2500 feet of elevation gain starting out from this trailhead on the west side of the mountain. From the trailhead you proceed about 10 meters before you get to the first crux - there is no sign directing you to go to the left. There is a sign for the trail straight ahead, though that sign directs you to yield to horses since they are bigger than you. Don’t take this trail unless you are off to Butte Camp.

Going left will take you quickly across a rambling brook and up to Blue Lake in about ½ mile. There are a couple of campsites and the peak of St Helens west crater rim just rises above the trees to the east.

Directions: Head north from Washington 503 just before Cougar on road to Kalama Horse Camp - 11 miles of pavement and then a couple more gravel - don't turn right on Forest #8100 but stay straight for two more miles on #8123 to the parking lot at the trailhead.

PLAINS OF ABRAHAM

A mile-long plateau at the eastern base of Mt St Helens, the Plains of Abraham have long been devoid of life. Massive avalanches off the eastern mountain bastions have constantly swept away what life there was. 1980's eruption ismply continued the process, albeit in a more dramatic manner. To wander among these plains is to transport yourself to another state of mind. Here, it is easy to sit on a rock and just gaze in wonder at the World we live in. For more views, see my travellogue.

Note that the Loowit Trail, which you join onto just before reaching the Plains of Abraham, encircles the mountain normally. This year it is closed from the Plain of Abraham west across the entire norhtern face of the mountain - due to volcanic activity. *

Address: 42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Rd., Amboy, WA 98601

Directions: From I-5, exit 21 Woodland; east following signs to Mt St Helens 35 miles to Forest Road 83;
11.2 miles farther to Ape Canyon trailhead.

Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm

THE CLIMB TWO

The technical highpoint of the mountain - 8365 feet - lies about a halfmile to the west, but the icy headwall of Dwyer Glacier make this visit very precarious. Rest assured, I cna tell you that the view from there is the same as from the end of the Monitor Ridge's route - 8281 feet. Watch in awe as rock avalanches roar off the crater cliffs.

Earlier in the season, it is possible to ski all the way up, though a large cornice forms at the rim which you should observe with caution.

A word about the climbing permits needed to climb here - climbing rangers monitor the route to make sure everyone has a permit. Summer weekends, you need to reserve, in February when the permits are first available. UP to 12 in a pary, $30 per permit. There are a few permits offered - for the next day. The problem is you end up wasting a day by going to Jack's Restaurant, near the town of Cougar on the south end of the mountain, to sign up. First come - first served, but you con't get the permits until later in the day. Late in showing up nad the permit goes to someone else. See the following website for all of the rules of the game. Even though it is bureacracy at its best, the views from the Rim and relative lack of others on a trail that would be overrun, makes your trek and pre-trek trials, worthwhile.

Climbing for 2005 is on permanent hold by the Forest Service because of volcanic activity within the mountain. An eruption would be a definite bummer if your were in the process of peakbagging on this one! *

Address: 42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Rd., Amboy, WA 98601

Directions: From I-5, exit 21 Woodland; east following signs to Mt St Helens 35 miles to Forest Road 83 left for 3.1 miles "Climbers Bivouac"; follow gravel roads another 4.2 miles to the parking lot.

Phone: 360-449-7861

Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/mount-st-helens/index.shtml

THE CLIMB

From about mid-July through mid-October, a climb of Mt St Helens can be considere as a hard hike - 4500 feet to be gained in 4.7 miles. The Monitor Ridge route takes you from the large parking lot at the 3765 foot high Cliimbers Bivouac through two miles of forests and then up a rugged lava ridge - so-called because of the monitors (which you can see) that sit along the ridge to give scientists indications of potential future eruptions. Monitor tower like the ones you see along this ridge can also be seen atop many other domes around the mountain. Near the top of your climb, lava rock gives way to ash sands making the tread tedious except for the everwidening view to the south. Suddenly, you are at the Rim. A gigantic horseshoe with 2000 foot high cliffs fram the hissing Lava Dome - rebuilding the mountain's losses from the inside-out - the waters of Spirit Lake and glaciers of Mt Rainier are beyond.

Note - the climbing season is cancelled for now in 2005 by the Forest Service due to volcanic activity. The road into Climbers Bivouac is gated. *

Address: 42218 N.E. Yale Bridge Rd., Amboy, WA 98601

Directions: From I-5, exit 21 Woodland; east following signs to Mt St Helens 35 miles to Forest Road 83; left for 3.1 miles "Climbers Bivouac"; follow gravel roads another 4.2 miles to the parking lot.

Phone: 360-449-7861

Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/mount-st-helens/index.shtml