Road is washed out approximately 4.7 miles from trail. It is closed with a very fast moving stream of water a couple feet deep and soft sand. Large trucks and 4X4’s were driving through.

This trip follows the Lava Canyon Trail to the Smith Creek Trailhead, then returns to the Lava Canyon Trailhead via Old Road 83.

Some trail damage was encountered shortly before and after the Middle Lava Canyon Falls, but the trail was passable with care.  After reaching the bridge to the Smith Creek Trail, I observed that someone wrote on the trail junction sign that the trail was washed out ahead on the north side of the canyon.  I decided to cross the bridge and take the trail on the south side of lava canyon to Smith Creek Trailhead, so I did not observe the washout personally.

More details about the route and video of any damage encountered can be found in the attached video report.

We started Ape Canyon around 10 Am a little later than hoped for since we changed plans due to mosquitoes but the trail is shaded so it wasn’t overly hot. The trail was about half hikers and half mountain bikers so it could be crazy on the weekend to attempt to hike with the bikers. We camped the night before at Merrill Lake thanks DNR for taking care of us procrastinators! There is an abundance of dispersed and free camping up by the mountain in case there are no spaces left in the other camps around Cougar. The trail is consistently beautiful starting at the lahar with big views of St. Helens, then winding through old growth and climbing into views of the other volcanoes of the range and the dark divide. Motivators today included hide and seek, imaginary destination teleportation, snake and toad catching, and Sasquatch investigating. We got about 4 miles or so up the mountain but turned around after we got some views of Adams and Rainier as the kids were flagging. The 2 year old hiked a little over a mile and rode in the backpack and my five year old did the 4 or so miles mostly with a few complaints when we went too long without seeing more toads or garter snakes. This isn’t a great trail for young kids just due to the difficulty level and limited spots for stopping and snacking. The trail is narrow in spots and getting to the side for bikers can be a challenge. All the bikers we encountered were courteous and respectful, but sharing the trail could be a real challenge on a crowded day. Make sure to pack plenty of water as there are limited water sources. 
After our long hike up the hill with spirits sagging towards the end we decided to eat some cookies by the lava canyon waterfalls. The suspension bridge is out so there is a limited hike at the canyon but the views on the ADA accessible stretch and first bridge are incredible and my son found more snakes so he called it Mount Snake Helens which is a pretty great pun for a five year old. The trail has some high consequence areas for kids so the signage indicating to watch children closely seems like great advice. There are some slippery stretches on the rock that could lead to falls. Overall a great day in the mountains and we got boots on three different trails Butte Camp, Ape Canyon, and Lava Canyon.

There are three hike "difficulties" listed at the trailhead: easy (wheelchair accessible), medium, and most difficult.  We took the last option, and it lived up to its rating.  The difficult trail starts from the end of closed suspension bridge.  It is a narrow path that hugs the edge of a vertiginous drop to the river below.  The footing is loose rock, and there is only one very short cable hand-hold by a wet section of rock.  Having hiked for forty years, this was one of the scarier hikes I've been on. A tall, steep ladder finishes off the hair-raising steep section.  We were looking for "The Ship", a lava island with excellent views, and completely missed the sign directing us there (it is affixed vertically to a tree off to the side, it turns out).  We hiked about a mile further before turning around and finally finding it on the way back.  It was well worth it: make sure you climb to the top of The Ship, as the views of the waterfalls are the best on the hike.  Worth it, but not for anyone with weak knees, acrophobia, or rambunctious children!

 The Lava Canyon trail is snow free with some blowdown, and one small tree down across the trail.  Road 83 from Marble Mt. Snopark to Lava Canyon is mostly snow free with a few short sections of snow left to melt out.

We had one day off left, from our trip to ONP, and used it to do our annual trash pickup along road 83, (while it is still closed).  There seemed to be less trash this time around, I am not sure if that is due to less littering or maybe our past trash collection efforts?  maybe both?

As usual it was a nice outing.