I did not hike these, so please ignore the Snow and Bug conditions.

I just wanted to let everyone know that due to the replacement of the Spirit Lake Tunnel Intake Gate and Geotechnical Drilling project, there will be several weekday closures in the area.  Per the FS information, these include:

• The southern portion of the Windy Ridge Parking area for contractor staging
• FR 99 extension road from Windy Ridge to the Truman Trail
• TR 207 – Truman Trail from TR 216E – Windy to TR 1 – Boundary
• TR 216D – Plains of Abraham from TR216 – Loowit to FR 99 extension Road
• TR 216E – Windy from TR 207 – Truman to TR 216 Loowit
• TR 207A – Truman from TR 216 – Loowit to TR 207 – Truman
• TR 1E – Harry’s Ridge

Full news brief from the Forest Service (links included below):

Vancouver, Wash., (May 13, 2024)— After 40 years, continued improvements are needed to support operations and maintenance of the Spirit Lake infrastructure that controls water levels in Spirit Lake. The replacement of the Spirit Lake Tunnel Intake Gate and Geotechnical Drilling project is needed to support safe operations and maintenance of the Spirit Lake infrastructure, downstream communities, and users accessing the area during construction. The replacement of the gate and the drilling will require weekday recreation trail closures within the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument during the multi-year construction effort.

Closures are needed to mobilize appropriate equipment, materials, and supplies for the Spirit Lake Intake Gate Replacement and Geotechnical Drilling Project scheduled to begin in May. This project will replace one single cast iron tunnel inlet flow gate with redundant tunnel inlet flow gates, dredge 1980s spoils piles where logs get hung up and prevent lake draw down and conduct geotechnical investigations and core sampling within the debris blockage to determine, and predict, safe conditions to control water levels in Spirit Lake more accurately. For more background information, please visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/giffordpinchot/?project=57259

The trails listed below will be closed Monday through Friday and open on Saturdays, Sundays, and all federal holidays from May 15 through October 31. The Windy Ridge Contractor Staging Area will be closed seven days per week from May 15 through October 31. Both closures will apply from 2024 through 2027. The closure order and maps can be found online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1175253.pdf

• The southern portion of the Windy Ridge Parking area for contractor staging
• FR 99 extension road from Windy Ridge to the Truman Trail
• TR 207 – Truman Trail from TR 216E – Windy to TR 1 – Boundary
• TR 216D – Plains of Abraham from TR216 – Loowit to FR 99 extension Road
• TR 216E – Windy from TR 207 – Truman to TR 216 Loowit
• TR 207A – Truman from TR 216 – Loowit to TR 207 – Truman
• TR 1E – Harry’s Ridge

Access for search and rescue, special use permittees, researchers, and tribes will be coordinated through the Mount St. Helen’s District Ranger.

These temporary closures are needed to implement the project work and ensure a safe work environment. Visitors are asked to respect closures and to recreate in other areas of the Monument during closure periods.

Visitors can expect to see large construction equipment and materials. Dust may be seen from various locations on the Monument. Visitors will encounter large vehicles on Forest Road 99 and are advised to use caution when traveling to the area.

Visit the Gifford Pinchot National Forest website for updates: www.fs.usda.gov/giffordpinchot

We arrived at the Windy Ridge Viewpoint a little after 9am. We came in from Randall on the 25 and the the 99. Roads were paved the whole way although with a few potholes here and there. Signs were still posted on the 25 about road closures south of the junction with 99. Parking lot looked like it could hold about 100 cars and there were only a few parked in the lot when we arrived. A gate on the service road prevented us from driving any further and restrooms were closed for the winter. Trail was easy to follow although we had to follow ducks up and down a few gullies. View was clear enough to see St Helens, Adams, and the top of Ranier. Falls still had an impressive amount of water, so much that we could hear the roar before seeing the falls. We encountered a few other groups but the trail was not too crowded. Highly recommend!

Easy trail but exposed the whole way

Finally made my way to this hike that has been on my list for such a long time. I believe we missed peak bloom by a a week or more, but there were still some gorgeous paintbrush and lupine hanging around. Would love to aim for mid July next year.

My friend and I arrived and began hiking at 3pm on a Friday. Only a handful of cars in the parking lot. The hike is very gradual and the wind kept a nice breeze for a majority of the hike, bugs were not a nuisance. At a leisurely pace enjoying the views and snapping some pictures along the way, we made it to the falls after about 1.5 hours. Enjoyed a lunch break for a half hour and headed back. When we got back to the lupine field we also stopped to relax and enjoy the start of golden hour for another 30 minutes. We made it back to the car right at 8 pm, and enjoyed a great sunset view before heading back.

I love that aside from Helen’s right in your face, you have a great view of Mount Adam’s to the east, and in the south on the clear day we had you can see Hood, too! We didn’t have any goat sightings, just evidence of them being around. We met a lovely pair who shared some amazing history about the eruption - I loved hearing how passionate they were about the history, it made the hike that much more special! Thanks Relick and Cora.

The Loowit Trail is an incredible and challenging trek, but well worth the effort!

Road conditions: Paved all the way to the trailhead, but watch for patches where it is sinking. Google took me on FR26 from south of Randle instead of taking FR25 all the way to FR99, which is much better (26 is one-lane and a little overgrown in some spots; 25 to 99 is much better and double-wide).

Snow: There are two patches on the SW flank of the mountain near the Butte Camp Trail junction, and while annoying to cross, neither posed a challenge.

Wildflowers: Incredible, and expect full bloom in maybe a week. The paintbrush was particularly vivid.

Water: I carried 3.5 liters to start each day in order to make it to camp where I knew there was reliable and silt-free water at Lake June and the South Fork Toutle River. There is a spring between the Loowit Falls Trail and Windy Trail on the Loowit Trail with clean, reliable water as well, and a creek in the Plains of Abraham that was fine. Other sources were dry or silty.

Campsites: There were several sites available at Lake June and the South Fork Toutle River (make sure to look south of the trail in the trees in addition to the top of the gully on the north side of the trail). Most other campsites were dry with the exception of in the Plains of Abraham just near Pumice Butte.

Trail conditions: This was an amazing hike, and I'm so glad I took it in three days to appreciate it, and to not wreak havoc on my feet! The trail varies between good tread on dirt to loose pumice and sand to stepping over and around large lava rocks. Navigation was fairly obvious by following cairns and large wooden posts or plastic poles, but very slow going in the lava flows. Trail runners were fine in these sections, but good tread is necessary. Also, I included a picture below of the sketchier of two gully crossings that require the use of a rope to climb/descend (the first is on the Blue Lake Wash which has about a 20-foot drop/climb on each side; the one pictured below is on the north side of the South Fork Toutle River). I'm grateful to have taken the trail clockwise, which I think made these two gully crossings easier. Clockwise also meant an 800-foot climb out of the South Fork Toutle River rather than 1,700 feet, and gave incredible views on the Sasquatch Steps towards Loowit Falls rather than having that at my back. Approaching from the Windy Ridge Trailhead was spectacular, and finishing on day three by crossing The Breach was an amazing grand finale. What a trip!