Ape Canyon to Loowit Falls

22 miles of hiking • 4500' elevation gain •

Just about as perfect as days come, spent with wonderful friends, up in the blast zone! Went up the Ape Canyon approach from the east, which offers a gently rolling climb through an old growth forest, beside a massive lahar, with some very nice volcano views along the way. As we were about to break out of the forest, an elk was startled just off-trail, and two mountain goats were spotted on the ridge across the valley. Mounts Adams and Rainier sparkled on the skyline.

After not finding snow on Mount Hood below 6000' two days prior, it was surprising to still find so much at 4500' as we crossed into the blast zone and began following the Loowit trail counterclockwise. Very large snow patches dotted the Plains of Abraham, and it seemed the flower show was still weeks away. The slick rock waterfall was a delight to behold, as it drained the plain.

We crossed over towards the junction with the Abraham trail, where we met one of the few folks we'd see up here, and talked awhile. She and her two dogs were heading the same way as us, but didn't continue too much farther. Windy Pass probably posed the greatest challenges of the day. Just finding the route up was something of a chore, on the loose pumice hillside. And then, on the way down, we encountered a very steep snowfield that meant diving off-trail into the ravine and a little butt-sledding down another snowfield.

As we toured around the volcano, it presented sides of itself rarely seen by most, and mostly unrecognizable to us. Just amazing what a different perspective it offers from these angles! When we arrived at the Willow Springs oasis, all enjoyed the most mountain-fresh ice-cold water they could. It just doesn't get better than that. I packed an extra liter-plus along, just because.

Not too much later, we finally hit the cut-off for Loowit Falls, and it was actually in sight. Folks actually started shuffle-jogging to get there quicker. Wow, what a build-up, and a pretty nice reward, too! On arrival, we dropped packs, and just enjoyed where we were for nearly an hour, eating lunch, watching a goat, looking out over Spirit Lake and the Mount Margaret Backcountry, with a thundering falls right there behind us. Wow, wow, wow!

The return was along the same general route, except we diverted off on the Windy trail after passing the springs again. This took us over to the access road for Windy Ridge, which we followed for a short while before switchbacking up the Abraham trail. While we probably weren't technically on Windy Ridge ourselves, at this point, hats were definitely not an option here! What an awesome traverse on a "knife" ridge made of pumice that formed the dividing line between the blast zone and the unaffected zone. INCREDIBLE!!!

The sand ladders up were a tremendous help. (Why can't they put those in the Eliot crossing on Hood???) Encountered a mountain biker here, who was the only person we'd seen since before entering the restricted zone. Winding back to the Plains, there were again some very steep snowfields to cross, most of which offered options to climb above and avoid the risk entirely. (Though none were impassable, by any means.)

The sun was slowly sinking over the summit, as we finally re-entered the forest. Hard to remember just how rolling the Ape Canyon trail was -- we actually gained 500' while descending! Arriving back at the trailhead, we encountered mosquitoes for the first time all day. It was time to go. Can't emphasize enough what an awesome day this was!

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