Mount Saint Helens' Loowit Trail

The Loowit trail is a 30 mile loop of rugged, uninterrupted back-country hiking with no road crossings for the entire circuit.  Feeder trails between 2 - 5 miles give access to the main Loowit Trail (and we suggest Climber's Bivouac as a starting point, which also offers camping).  This is an extremely difficult trail, and will test every one of your team's outdoor skills over the days to hike it.  Again, I cannot stress this enough: this is not just a "Hard" hike, this is an "Extremely Hard" hike.  The remoteness and trail conditions make this challenging, but also very rewarding.

First of all, this trail is rugged.  There are several sections of boulders, miles long, where there isn't even a trial, only posts or cairns to mark the way.  If it's a cloudless day, you will be feeling heat from the sun and heat radiating up from the rocks as well.  Almost none of the trail is flat, it will feel like you are climbing all day.  Progress will be much slower than you may be used to when hiking.  Our group averaged barely one mile per hour each day.

Water is a real issue.  Late in the season many springs will be dry.  Most water sources except for the South Fork Toutle River are also extremely silty and will clog filters, be sure to bring extra supplies, chemical treatment may be a better option after straining silt.

The north section of the trail, that goes through the blast zone, is a restricted area with no overnight camping allowed, and must be traversed in one day.  This is about 12 miles long.  Fortunately, it has no boulder sections.

The entire circuit is riddled with deep erosion gullies and canyons.  Some are sheer enough that it requires the aid of ropes that have been tied to trees at the edges.  These rope scrambles can be between 20-40 feet.

If it's not clear yet: this is a risky trail.  There are steep cliffs in places.  The boulder sections are rife with opportunity to catch and sprain and ankle, or worse.  There is virtually no tree cover on 75% of the trail, and you are exposed to the sun at all times.

That said, the views are magnificent.  Vast meadows of bear grass and lupine.  Close views of the mountain from every angle.  Multiple waterfalls.  A variety of volcanic rocks.    The trail comes within a mile of the breach from the 1980 eruption.  Herds of mountain goats graze on the hills.  Sunsets and sunrises are glorious against the mountain flanks.  It's all worth every bit of difficulty and danger.

Our group went counter-clockwise over three days and two nights, for a trip with a slower pace it would be possible to use a different feeder tail and do three nights, but no matter what, there is a 12 miles section that has to be done in one day.