Loowit Trail, Ape Canyon, Loowit Falls & Plains of Abraham - Windy Pass Loop — Saturday, Aug. 9, 2003

St. Helens under a full moon! (waxing) This was a superb way to enjoy the St. Helens blast area during mid-late summer. The weather for this trip was partly cloudy, which helped to cut the heat, and made for spectacular sunsets and moon gazing. I arrived at the end of the Windy Ridge road at about 7 P.M. - after most of the tourist throngs had left. Hiked to the Loowit trail and dropped my pack to catch the sunset near Loowit Falls (leaving a little bit earlier would have been wise in order to make it to the Falls before dark.) I returned to my pack and climbed to Windy Gap directly towards the rising moon. The trail here, as well as descending on the other side, definitely shows the wear of a rapidly changing geology - nothing to extreme, but certainly something to be careful of. The trail would still be education for youngsters, but they should be somewhat experienced and respectful. This trail is probably a good place to teach these various lessons. I bivy'd at Windy Gap, on the boundary of the restricted zone. There would also be some good camp areas to on the Shoulder point just to the East of the Gap - right along the restricted area Boundary. This area is a bit more private, larger, and offers adds the bonus view of Rainier to the Adams and Hood mix. The moon over the desertscape of St. Helens and the clouds was absolutely magical. So much so I feel right asleep, never to catch the moon directly over St. Helens - and free of clouds. I returned to Windy Ridge via the Plains of Abraham. The final section of the trail traverses the ridge crest and would be a lightning risk in moderate-severe weather. Today a rainbow was spotted over the main St. Helens mud flow just as approaching the ridge. Unfortunately it was gone by the time I arrived at the Ridge top. I got back to the car by 10:00 a.m. after covering approximately 10 miles of desolate moonlit beauty. It appears that their may be an option to extend the loop via Ape Canyon, but as there appears to be some new trail construction, the tourist descriptions were contradictory and/or ambigous, and my climbers 7.5' topo didn't cover the area I decided not to explore. The loop continues from Ape Canyon to Swift creek and ends with a hot and dry climb back to Windy Ridge. On my loop water was available on the trail to Loowit Falls and also on the Plains of Abraham. Both of these creeks were small enough to dry up in a drought year or from changing geology. Windy Gap is a dry camp. Flowers were ok-good. There was something that appeared to be a deserty lupine kind of thing growing all over the place on mudflow which was interesting. It may well be just Lupine adjusting to the deficient soil. No bugs.