Cloudy - perfect weather to hike to the blast zone (no shade). We walked on Windy Ridge Trail (#207, slightly down slope, lined with flowers) first. We took #216E east towards Loowit Falls. About 1 mile of low dwarf lupine covering the otherwise bleak dark plain, with the blue Spirit Lake floating in and out of clouds. At the next junction, we took #216 (Loowit Trail), which says 1.1/4 miles to Loowit Falls (it's more like 1.5 miles). We stopped at a small muddy waterfall first. It's mostly flat until here, some up and downs to cross creek or gully. The last junction is left on to #216F (3/4 miles) UP to Loowit Falls. We ate our lunch listening to the falls, but couldn't see it. Finally the cloud faded a bit, so we saw it. It's BEAUTIFUL. On the way back, at the junction of 216E (the 1.1/4 mark), we took #216 (right) up and over a saddle. The down slope was mostly very loose rocks. If you are afraid of heights, this is not for you. It drops down to Plain of Abraham, up to a T-junction, with a lot of bikers. We turned left (north) at #216D. Soon we were matching upwards, and there, along the ridge, is the most abundant flower show I could possibly hoped for. It's LOVELY, looking at both sides into as far as the clouds allowed. I didn't like the stairs on the northern slope. Returned on the same gravel road to car, happy and content. Total about 11.5 miles, 2200' accumulated elevation gain.

My girlfriend Dani and I headed up to Windy Ridge Friday morning from Vancouver, WA. planning on heading West through the blast zone (counterclockwise) around the Loowit. I have previously done trail work all around Mt. St. Helens and am very familiar with the blast zone but very intrigued to complete the entire around the mountain trail. Day 1 Leaving Windy @ roughly 10:30 a.m. we headed through the blast zone taking lots of pictures. Sharing many stories and some history about the 1980 blast with my girlfriend. We are placing our footsteps onto once was the Largest Landslide in the history of human record. We have both seen the rich and old growth forest of the south, once again the destruction of Loowit reminds you how fragile life can be on any Cascade volcano. We were very lucky with the weather, party cloudy skies and low 70ies with a light breeze kept us cool in the rather dry blast zone. The trail is mostly level until you reach the Plains of Abraham but it is long with a few creek crossings. Early season a handful of these may be more challenging but this late in August we skipped over most of them, Dani did take off her boots once! Pushing a couple different herds of Elk as we neared the Toutle kept our moral high as the day came to an end. Once down to the beginning of the river we traversed the ravine with the provided rope. Dani decided to go down first and have me lower her pack down to her and I put the rope in my hip-belt and lowered down slowly. Ran into two other groups coming from June Lake who camped down off the Toutle heading clockwise talking about their prior day. Sounds like we are in for a tough next 24 hours considering the forecast the NOAA website said we were expecting thunderstorms that night. Noticed the ceiling drop around 8:30 p.m. the sky also changed significantly to make me put my rainfly on and move our gear to the farthest most point to our tent. Shut our phones off and lightening started around 9 on the Northeast side then slowly circled around the mountain over us (on the ridge above the Toutle right off the Loowit trail.) Rain started and I counted some strikes of lightening and thunder around 1 second of separation and thunder I've never encountered before. Slept around midnight. Snoozed until 7, then after breakfast and filling up all 5 liters of water a person at the Toutle I packed up my wet rainfly and tackled what would be our most challenging part of our circumnavigation of the Loowit trail. Ravines and reroutes with a brushy yet huckleberry filled hike up to Butte Camp Dome intersection. I still wonder if taking the Sheep Canyon trail would of been beneficial considering all the obstacles we encountered. The trail sign after that says it's 2 1/2 miles to Climbers Bivouac, this whole section I am unfamiliar with and it blows us away on how exhausted we are once we reach the intersection with the Ptarmigan trail. Another few miles until June Lake going past the Winter climbing route which is poorly marked and I could see how it could be easy to walk right past the Loowit trail. Reach June Lake which has lots of people and kids, eat a ton of food and take care of our tired feet with a full night rest, we received a small amount of dew and precipitation overnight. Light mist in the A.M. we were up bright and early on Sunday to finish our lightest and last day of our circumnavigation. Slept a lot, woke up refreshed after a delicious cup of coffee from my barista girlfriend and we were off on the longest hike of our weekend. Great day, ran into all the other groups hiking around the mountain. Thoroughly enjoyed this section over Muddy River and Ape Canyon through the Plains of Abraham which I've heard about from my friends and co-workers while in the Washington State Conservation Corps. "This looks like West Texas, but more green." -Dani Immediately I thought of one of my best friends whose family are from West Texas. This 13 mile stretch we completed our last day was fantastic and the most enjoyable to me mostly because I was the most unfamiliar with this section and the elevation gain/loss one of the most manageable during our hike around Mount Saint Helens. Arrived back to Windy Ridge via the Plains of Abraham trail at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday. Special thanks to those who have worked so hard and dedicated their lives to maintaining the trail system around one of the most Historic Mountains in the world.