Due to the washout before June Lake Trailhead on Forest Road 83, it is strongly recommended that vehicles without 4x4 and high clearance do not attempt to cross the washout. The washout is a mix of sand and mud, and all non-4x4/high clearance cars have the highest level of risk of getting stuck. There is active flowing and standing water occasionally at least a foot deep.

Beyond the washout, the road is clear of snow up to Ape Canyon and Lahar Viewpoint. Snow may still be present on trails as well as any parking areas, so please use caution. There are reports of downed trees on the trail, in addition to the trail beginning to erode near the top of the canyon. For more information, contact Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument at 360-449-7800.

Hiked Ape Canyon today.  Temps were in the mid 60s, few bugs, and fewer people.  Views were stupendous at the top - Mt Rainier, Adams and Hood were all visible. 

GAIA reported 9.7 miles RT and ~1,800' gain.  At the intersection with the Loowit Trail at 4,175' there isn't much snow across the trail except for two small sections at the very top which were easy to cross.  Also, at the top, as you approach the intersection with Loowit, part of the trail has broken away at a very steep section of the trail.  Be cautious if you go up and over or across the trail. On the trail there are three downed trees that are large and may need help getting over. 

We saw mountain bike tracks on the upper section where the trail has been broken up and is rutted.  When we returned to the parking lot we saw six bikers getting ready to ride up the trail tomorrow.  We also saw two people with a dog heading up the trail. 

This is a great hike! I would not consider this a hard hike but it's length makes it more challenging. It is not all uphill, the terrain varies quite a bit. The views are great, the trail is in great condition. We saw a mountain goat, frog, and  lots of butterflies. The only thing that made this trail miserable were the biting flies. They were relentless! No amount of the bug spray (at least the brand we had) helped. We ran the last 2 miles back to get away from them. I will come back in the fall and spring, and hopefully it will be bug free! We logged 10.9 miles (we turned back at the rock pile on the Loowit trail after crossing the water) and it took us 4 hours.

GO NOW for the dwarf lupine... No camera tricks, it really is that amazing, but it's also at peak bloom and probably won't last much longer. Best blooms are on the Loowit Trail from just before Windy Pass to Loowit Falls. 

I started at Ape Canyon, camped at Pumice Butte, and on the second day did an 11 mile loop from the Plains of Abraham/Windy Pass area on the Loowit Trail (with a stop by Loowit Falls) to Willow Springs Trail to Truman Trail to Abraham Trail and back to Pumice Butte. Trail was in good condition the whole way... some parts of the Loowit Trail are steep or slightly eroded, but nothing sketchy or of particular concern. Amazing scenery, wildflowers all over the place, a few mountain goats... good times.

I had been concerned about water, and was carrying a lot, but actually it ended up not being a huge problem. The campsites when you first clear the trees at Ape Canyon were dry, but there's a stream about halfway between there and Pumice Butte (about half a mile from either campsite) that has nice flowing water. Pumice Butte only had a small stream with a few pools, which were usable but I don't know how much longer that one will last. It didn't have much flow and campers were cleaning their clothes and hands directly in the pool, which was kind of gross. Although it was hot and I was drinking a lot, there were sufficient running streams on my second day loop, so I never got super low on water (most of the streams were good water, but a couple were brown and I skipped those.) Carrying two liters at a time and a filter was sufficient. 

The campsite at Pumice Butte had room for 3-4 tents... lots of aggressive ground squirrels so secure your food and don't leave sweaty stuff outside your tent for them to nibble. Trees are sufficient for a rodent hang, but not really tall enough to keep bigger animals out. I brought a bear can because I wasn't sure what the hang situation would be.

Bugs weren't bad... no mosquitoes. Some flies, but there was a pretty good breeze that kept them away for a lot of my hike, and my long sleeved sun hoodie kept the rest off me. First trip I've had in a while where I came home with no new bites. That feels like an accomplishment.

Ape Canyon TH doesn't have any facilities, so I stopped at the Marble Mountain Sno-Park for the toilet. On the way back google maps got me hopelessly lost taking a stupid route on the local logging roads... It kept telling me to turn on roads that literally didn't exist. I ended up having to open Gaia and navigating myself out of there. Wasted a ton of time, but oh well. Maybe it was a fluke, but something to be aware of!

I would highly recommend a midweek hike for this trail as it was quite uncrowded and peaceful. There were a few mountain bikers, all polite and easy to step aside for. One log across the trail, no trouble to get over. The trail had some nice shade lower down and a breeze. 

Many flowers in the wooded area, including queens cup, anemone, tiger lilies, goats beard, foam flower, and bunchberry. Up at the top paintbrush, partridge foot, alpine lupine, asters, and penstemon. Highlight was a patch of blooming phlox with more than a half a dozen large yellow swallowtail butterflies and other butterflies enjoying the nectar and ignoring the humans trying to photograph them.

Our turn-around point and lunch site was up to the right before the plains of Abraham proper where we could pull up a rock and see multiple mountains, as well as Saint Helens. The small stream still has water. We saw quite a bit of mountain goat wool on the bushes here, and heading out an adult goat and youngster.

Flies were somewhat bothersome on the hike out, but not horrible.