Last day on the Lowit path

July 3, 2025

It is our last day on this beautiful and resistant path around Mount St Helens. The morning begins in the clouds. The clouds enter and leave, sometimes they cover Mount Adams, sometimes Helens. It is a surprising dawn.

We are getting low in water, and as predicted, the previous night Muddy Creek no longer flows. It flows only later in the day, after the sun creates enough thaw. There may be water 1/2 mile below on the path, or there may not be any of a few miles. Such is the situation in this mountain. The map shows small blue lines frequently, but we know it better. Water on the Lowit path can certainly be unpredictable.

While I reluctantly leave the incredible beauty of our camp, I am pleased to see the day starting with more impressive views. Lowit is easily presented from this angle, snowfields still have so early in the season, wild flowers everywhere.

L A R: Chevelle, Me, Candace and, of course, Mount St. Helens in the back! Photo Credit Chevelle Malone

Frugoso River

Approximately 1/2 mile on the path, near Pumice Butte, we cannot find the fiancé water source. We see other camps, so this area seems full of camp options. Our next possible source of water is the Muddy river, which does not sound particularly attractive, but water is water.

We bend and see a new landscape that appears before us. This path has been so fascinating in this way. Every few miles, the landscape changes completely. The variety is beautiful and surprising.

A new day, a new landscape. Chevelle in front, me behind. PHOTO CREDIT CANDACE TOMS

Go ahead, a new collection of narrow white cuts crossed the landscape: more ravines and ravines to cross, of course. The most worrying is the Fangoso river, our possible source of water. Recent travel reports mention that the path to the river has washed. A temporary route has replaced it, but it is not as established as the original.

As we start towards the ravine, our balance is already insecure, even long before washing. The path, once again, is composed of that same Cinderella sand in which all this mountain consists of. Chevelle, at the head, begins to follow the original path before noticing that the new «path» for the left. It is barely a path, difficult to find, with several parts of only a few inches wide. However, washing is impassable, so we slowly open through the improvised replacement. It is unpleasant, but even better than Windy Pass. A fall here would be a painful but less high consequence. Even so, I feel uncomfortable until I am safely at the bottom of the descent.

In the center of the photo, you can see where the path was washed. Look for the little path on him for the scale.

Unfortunately, there is no water here, at least not so early in the day. Fortunately, water is just a crest, complete with a beautiful waterfall. We stop for a snack and a hydration break.

Mount St Helens and our beautiful and moisturizing waterfall.

The lava returns

Much of the morning is the same as the previous two days, inside and outside the ravines, through expansive landscapes, with constant views of the mountain to our right. We even have another hillside covered with bear grass, as we did on day 1.

More bear grass!

And then, suddenly, we face another lava field. Like the first day, it is the strangest astgalus field that I can imagine. Large, unequal black rocks, stretch as far as we can see, with nothing that guides us through occasional posts and mojones. The Cairns missed us more than once, which led me to Candace and almost to acts and backward. It is just a mile more or less through the lava rock, but it takes much longer than our normal rhythm. Even with the slow pace, I can’t help appreciating marked beauty.

Lavor field, marker and lowit.

Shortly after finishing the lava field, we stop for lunch at the intersection with June Lake Trail. Our lunch place is completely surrounded by trees and shadow. I support myself in a trunk for backup and appreciate trees in a new way. The shadow is a merchandise on this path and we absorb it.

The last climb

Less than one mile after lunch, we passed chocolate Falls. It is not a particularly large waterfall, but it is quite high. Here, we overlap very briefly with the road to the summit for those who take the route of worms flows. Worm flows is the old lava in which it crawled before.

Chocolate failures. I listened occasionally to look chocolate due to mud and ash, but today it is perfectly clear.

From this point, it is completely uphill until we arrive at the deviation of our access path, approximately 1000 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles more or less. Today it is quite hot, so a rise in this heat with direct exposure to the sun is not ideal. Fortunately, more than I hope is in the trees. There are even several small snow sections that feel like air conditioning pockets.

The climb is sometimes steep but feasible, and I am surprised how quickly we get to the diversion for the Vivauac Path of Climber, where we start. We stop in the shade and marvel at our last days. Then, Chevelle, Candace, and I connect our steps and start the decrease of 2 miles to the car. It feels almost anti -annual compared to everything we have seen so far.

In the parking lot, my car sits in full sun. My America, the beautiful pass, which remains on my board, has softened and acquired the shape of the board, permanently curved. Surprisingly, the small refrigerator that hid me in my car with cold packages and Gatorade is still great. We all drink our drinks and say goodbye to each other and the beautiful Loowit path. We all agree that it is one of the favorite backpacking trips we have had.

Back to the charming views of Mount Hood. I come for you next!

Lowit report

The Lowit path may have ended in a more mediocre way (a hot climb through trees, minimum views at the end), but the path as a whole is incredible. It was an incredible and challenging experience. I have never experienced another path like this, and it was really one of my favorite walks. Now, for some superlatives:

Favorite part: It is a difficult call among the entire explosion zone on day 2, the slope of the flourishing bear grass on day 1 or wild strawberries. Chevelle and Candace’s company was also an incredible advantage. It is wonderful to find compatible hiking partners.

Less favorite part: The descent of Windy Pass was so crumbled, uncertain and exposed, I would never like to do that again. Similarly, the Muddy river washed section.

Better camp: Abraham plains, with the simultaneous views of Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens next to a dramatic waterfall.

Unique team to consider if this path walks: Traction gloves for rope sections: Gardening gloves suit with rubber palm trees and worked perfectly. Naupa: Cinderella sand gets into everything. Additional water capacity, and definitely stop at any time that see water. You may be running one night and not the next morning. I recommend trekking posts for loose and sandy descents. An amateur or handkerchief for the ash in case it becomes wind. And a lot of sun protection.

In total, it was an incredible experience and I recommend it to any experienced hiker to look for something new.

Last day statistics

Thousands of path walked: 11
Elevation won/lost: 2570/3120
Falls: 1 (An autumn per day keeps the walking walk?)
Waterfalls: 2

Chevelle, Me and Candace at the beginning of the Loowit path. Photo Credit Chevelle Malone.