Began my intended circumnavigation of Helens on the 25th from Blue Lake TH on the SW side of the mountain. My intention was to camp at June Lake the first night, and wrap up the trail the following morning.
There was a little snow in the forest between Blue Lake and The Toutle River, but it wasn't too bad. Navigating was easy via place ribbons marking the trail.
The blast zone was mostly free of snow up until passing through the notch of Alpine Butte where we were forced to climb up and around a snowy patch that was not safe to cross.
Turning the corner onto the south side, we discovered the washouts of the Muddy River were still covered in snow and being the first ones to hike the trial (or so it appeared), we were forced to bail down the Ape Canyon TH in order to avoid the dangerous situation that might have awaited us.
From there we caught a ride back to our van at Blue Lake knowing that the trail from June Lake on would be covered in snow as well. Based on our early hike last season, we decided against battling post holing up to our chests.
It appears we were a couple of weeks too early for this hike. Once the snow is gone, it'll be fine, but for now, blazing a trail over snow covered washouts is just too risky.
Comments
blendergasket on Southwest Loowit Loop
Thank you for your post. I am hoping to do this trail the 3rd week of June. I guess we'll see how it is then. I may postpone it for a few weeks.
Posted by:
blendergasket on May 30, 2019 07:55 PM