Mt. St. Helens is an Ashhole (8.18-20.10 Hike)

About a month ago, Lindsay, who is trying to get her credentials to be a hiking guide, asked if I wanted to take a hike around Mt. St. Helens. Being a fan of Mt. St. Helens, I said yes without realizing how brutal it was going to be. She had this guide book, which was outdated, last published in 2003, that showed different hikes around the cascades. She was interested in this one because it was an easy one. Which later on we figured out it was one of the “easier ones” in the book. A lot of the hikes were over sixty miles or more, with serious height in elevation. When we got back from the two-day hike, I looked on the internet of the reviews it was given. It was a 7/10 difficulty rating and was for experienced fit hikers. I was like; I survived a forty mile hike without realizing how hard it actually was. Don’t get me wrong, it was difficult and I wanted to die six miles into it but I did it and that is an accomplishment. I would probably never do it again at the spur of the moment. It was a good thing I was in somewhat shape or I wouldn’t have made it all the way around.

I met Lindsay at South Sound Running, where she works. She got off at 7 p.m. and had me bring all of my stuff with me so we could just leave from there. We headed down I-5 and made it to the Woodland exit. We stopped at the Safeway to use the bathroom and to get a few snacks. I found some Orange Capri’s Suns, a rarity at the grocery stores. So with the Capri’s Suns and some Nutria Grain bars, I was set for the evening. We headed towards Cougar, the last town before you get to the National Park. It was getting dark fast. We made it to the June Lake parking lot and set up the tent in the dark while we waited for Shawn, Lindsay’s friend from the Olympia Mountaineers.

We set up the tent, rolled out the sleeping bags, mattress pads and situated ourselves before we each took a turn using the forest as a bathroom. While Lindsay went potty, I brushed my teeth and looked around the parking lot. When she was done, we switched. We got situated in the tent when we heard Shawn drive up. He got out and got his stuff ready and we all fell asleep just before midnight. I was tired so I instantly fell asleep.



We woke up around 6 a.m. because Lindsay didn’t hear her alarm go off and to foggy surroundings and started packing up our stuff and decided what we wanted to leave behind to keep our packs light. I ate a cereal bar before embarking on our 17 miles + journey. I wish we could have seen the landmarks around us that morning but everything was too foggy. We walked the 1.4 miles to June Lake. On the way Lindsay decided to share one of her metal walking poles with me (kind of like ski poles) as we walked. We arrived shortly at the lake and admired how tiny it was. We kinda saw the waterfall but the fog was too much for a decent picture. We decided we would wait until we came back. We walked up to the trail head and off we went on the Loowit Trail. The walk didn’t seem all that bad, we rose in elevation from 3,400 to 4,800 feet and hit a couple of steep parts of the trail; nothing I couldn’t handle. We made it to the Muddy River and decided to fill up our water bottles with the filter.



We packed our stuff up again and headed towards Ape Canyon and Pumice Butte. Because of the fog, all of the plants and trees were wet. As we walked through them on the trail, our pants and shoes got soaked. I didn’t have that great of shoes to begin with so I suffered more as we walked on. We reached the Plains of Abraham, a 2.1-mile moonlike expanse. It was the flattest part of our hike. The fog started to dissipate as we reached the East Dome of Mt. St. Helens. We stopped to admire and take a few pictures before hiking on to Windy Pass. We could see Mount Adams and Mount Rainier in the distance as we walked on.



We hit mile 7, and a switchback up to 4,900 feet to Windy Pass. We definitely know how it got its name. It was so windy up there. We walked down towards the blast zone, a restricted research area that does not allow you to camp there, so we had to make it to the Toutle Trail to camp for the night. At this point, I was miserable. I was tired, my feet were starting to hurt and my shoulders were not used to the extra weight. But I knew it would happen. It started getting warm and dry. As we entered the blast zone, you could see ash, pumice and rocks for miles. Every time you breathed in, you breathed in remnants of 1980. You could see Spirit Lake in the distance.



We took a small snack and water break before we branched off and took the 1.9 mile side trip to Loowit Falls. I really didn’t want to go but I was a good sport and went with them up the trail to the falls. As we walked I gave them some information about the 1980 eruption of the volcano and they wondered how I knew so much about it. For example, I told them all of the land we were walking on at that point used to be the north flank of the mountain before it erupted and caused the largest landslide in North America.



From Loowit Falls to our camp site was probably the most grueling part of the hike. It was a seven miles and poorly marked. Several times we had to create our own path, there were many wash outs and many obstacles we had to over come. There was one creek, I can’t remember the name, where we spent a long time trying to figure out a place to cross and after my shoes dried, I got one of them wet crossing the blasted water, great more friction of the socks and more blisters. We saw a couple herds of elk as we hiked through the barren terrain.



Another time, we made it to this huge valley and had to basically make our own trail up; there was barley enough ground for the width of your foot going up. A wrong step and you tumble down…a long way. We got closer to the tree line, where the blast zone ends and the Toutle River Trail begins.



I saw the trees and I knew we were getting closer to food, rest and taking my shoes off. We made it to the cliff of the Toutle Trail head around 7 p.m. and decided to stay on the cliff. We wouldn’t have made it down to where camp was supposed to be. None of us had enough energy and want to go down to the valley. We found a place to set up camp, it was right on the northwest side of the mountain and technically still in the blast zone. We knew the mountain wasn’t going to erupt and we also knew no one was going to tell us to leave.

We were far away from civilization. It was a very beautiful spot. Throughout the set up of camp, we could hear rocks and rockslides crashing down the sides of the mountain. We heated up some water with the small camp stove and the fuel we brought with us. Shawn and Lindsay had some soup and I had my ravioli MRE. After scarfing that down, I did some surgery on my poor feet. I had a blister or going to be a blister on every single toe. I put my feet up on my pack as I laid in my sleeping bag. Lindsay and Shawn put together their sleeping arrangements and we just laid there talking as it got darker and darker. Lindsay and I said once we got back to the car we were going for hamburgers on the way home. Finally we were so exhausted we all passed out before 9 p.m. You could hear the wind howling through the flaps of the tent as well as rocks sliding down the mountain side. Other than that, you didn’t hear a thing. No birds, no animals howling, just nothing. An eerie silence when the wind wasn’t blowing. I tossed and turned all night. At one point I heard Shawn snoring and Lindsay talking in her sleep. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet night.



We woke up on our own accords because Lindsay didn’t hear her alarm go off. Shawn and I heard it but we just ignored it for more sleep time. I got up because I wanted to get a start on the day so we can get back to the car, about 11 miles away. Lindsay and I started packing up our sleeping gear while Shawn just laid there in his sleeping bag. I got out of the tent and it was beautiful outside. It was just reaching dawn as I took a picture of our tent with the mountain in the background. It’s my favorite picture of the entire trip. Shawn finally got up. I had a snack before we headed down to the Toutle River valley. It was way too early to be hiking my body made sure I knew that. Once we reached the river, where we should have gotten water, we had to climb down and climb out on really steep cliffs.



When we got to the trail head it was up for a couple thousand feet in elevation. I was dying. What a way to start out the morning. I was quickly running out of water too. For the next 5.6 miles, the trail went up and down in elevation and there were many wash outs, without water in them. We finally reached Butte Camp trail head, where we took a break, really worried about the amount of our water.



For the next 3 miles, we scrambled over lava fields and we were desperate, almost losing hope in finding water until we came to an open area. We stopped to listen. I didn’t feel the wind blowing, OH MY GOD, WATER! I have never been this thankful in my life for water. We hustled down to the water source and our spirits instantly rose. I believe the water source was called Swift Creek.



We went over several other lava fields and we could see Mount Hood in the distance. I knew we were getting closer to the south side of the mountain, where the car was. We passed Climber’s Bivouac, the trail that leads you up to the top of the mountain. We hit a grassy meadow and continued through the forest where we dropped in elevation all of a sudden, which was really hard on my knees. Once we finished that portion of the trail, we had about a mile or so back to June Lake. We hit a few more lava beds and entered the forest again as we steadily dropped in elevation towards the lake. We finally hit the beginning of the Loowit Trail head, where we began the journey around the mountain. We took a picture with the trail head sign before I basically ran down the trail to June Lake.



We posed for a few pictures with the lake and the waterfall before heading to the car in the parking lot. I basically ran the entire 1.4 miles back to the car with my 50 lb pack on. I could not wait to take my shoes off and sit. I could not wait for that hamburger. I was so hungry. I threw my pack down and took my shoes off as fast as I could. I dumped water on them because they were covered in ash. My entire body was covered in ash. About 10 minutes later Shawn and Lindsay show up around the corner. We pack up our stuff in the car, we said bye to Shawn and we left the parking lot and headed towards Cougar.



We got out at the Mt. St. Helens sign to take a picture with it and again in Cougar to get a picture with the sign since I am a WSU Cougar. We headed up I-5 and stopped at Harold’s Burger Bar in Centralia, where we literally inhaled our food. I had Doug come get me at exit 88 to go home because Lindsay was going to her grandpa’s house in Lacey to get her dog. I just wanted to go home, take a shower and go to bed. That’s one adventure to last me a lifetime.



Note to people wanting to do the hike: Do your research before you go!!

It’s the beginning of September and my feet are still healing. I couldn’t wear shoes for an entire week after our hike.