Ape Canyon — Saturday, Jul. 26, 2025

Naturally, anytime I do some long hike for a good view of Mt. St. Helens, she's hiding behind her cloud veil.

Still some good views on this trail. Pictures are less impressive because it's the gargantuan scale of everything that is really mindblowing, especially once you get up to the Loowit trail area.

Most of this is just a long forest hike, with occasional viewpoints. It's well shaded, but no water points, so carry plenty up. nice flowers at the top and lots of ripe berries too. The trail is fairly smooth with dirt/fir needles, and is not overly rocky until you get close to Loowit.

Busy trail, lots of bikes. TH full by 9am, so parked at Lava Canyon TH. bathrooms there not bad but may be out of TP.

Maybe avoid Mt st Helens next weekend Aug2/3, the Volcanic 25/50k is that weekend, so it will be busy.

Driving:
made it in a Hyundai Elantra. drive slow and careful. Theres a couple big bumps where the road is carved away, another dip/bump in pavement, and a huge berm. Stick to the side you came up on for these if you have a tiny car (uphill/right lane followed by downhill/left lane), the berm and dips are gentler on that side. I made the mistake of staying in my lane on the way down for the last bit of excavated road and scraped a tiny bit. Driving back in late afternoon with sun in your eyes and dappled roadway made it hard to see that this side had way deeper tire ruts than the uphill lane.