Submitted Thu, 09/15/2011 - 9:21pm by DAnderson
Hello all, and greetings from Finland – land of thousands of lakes in Northern Europe. I work for Nokia and recently got a chance to spend a weekend in Seattle before starting some work together with Microsoft. Some 14 years ago I was hiking in the Mt St Helens area and thought It would be nice to go and explore the area on mountain bike. After some Googling around I found PUMP site and got in touch with David Anderson. Thanks David for excellent hints on selecting the trails to study.
Submitted Tue, 09/28/2010 - 10:37pm by DAnderson
The Smith Creek trail provides an important link to the IMBA epic Ape Canyon and Smith Creek Loop Trail. For those doing the whole loop it is a 25 mile ride of scenery unlike any that can be experience anywhere else. Short portions of the lower Smith Creek travel on what used to be Road 92. Riding on some of those sections of doubletrack is much like riding through the hallway leading to the audience room in the Wizard of Oz. The impact of the 1980 eruption can still be noted on virtually all sections of the loop trail. Ash and pumice blanketed the slopes throughout the area and in subsequent winters all that material got washed down the slopes, with some of it blocking culverts along the old Road 92. One such blockage created a pond that was about six feet deep, the overflows from which severely eroded what used to be a wide logging road down to a narrow ledge that's less than 3 feet wide. Any further erosion of the ledge in that section of trail is on would virtually close the entire Smith Creek trail down to all use depriving mountain bikers one of the premier trails in the Pacific Northwest.
Submitted Mon, 07/26/2010 - 6:51pm by DAnderson
The west side of Mount St Helens is about as different from the east side as could be expected. It's scenic. It's tough. It has variety. It's probably not for everybody. Doing the entire 15 mile loop will involve about 3400 feet of climbing, with the toughest section along the Loowit Trail, which in my opinion is the most scenic portion of the loop, but also the toughest because of four large gullys that are subject to washouts and are hikeabike situations.
Submitted Wed, 07/14/2010 - 10:46pm by DAnderson
We came from near and far to pay homage to the Mountain that rules all.
(photo verslowrdr)
From as close as LaCenter to as far as Norway they came
(photo David A's Photos)
There was no sleeping in
photo David A's Photos
There were trails to ride
Submitted Mon, 05/24/2010 - 7:01am by DAnderson
As of late May 2010 conditions at higher elevations around Mount St Helens remain snowbound. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest website indicates that roads around Mount St Helens that are above 3,000 to 3,500' elevation have snow on them. The June Lake Snotel at 3440 foot elevation on the south side of the mountain indicates the snow pack is where it was near the end of March before our recent bout of chilly wet weather brought snow levels down to winter levels. Currently Forest Road 83, the road to Ape Canyon trailhead parking lot, is open as far as the June Lake Trailhead, about 4.5 miles from Ape Canyon Trailhead. We will need some warm weather before this area opens up.
Submitted Tue, 12/01/2009 - 4:01pm by DAnderson
Winter has set in at Mount St Helens. Road 81 is now closed at the Cougar Snow Park - at the junction with Road 83. Road 83 is now closed at the Marble Mountain Snow Park. Both roads are gated at those locations. Those areas are open to winter style recreation. For updated information go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/current-conditions/roads.shtml
Submitted Wed, 10/21/2009 - 6:29pm by DAnderson
Road 81 is now open on the south-west side of Mount St Helens. That means you can drive to Red Rock Pass and the spectacular trails on the south-west side of the mountain, including Toutle, Sheep Canyon, Butte Camp and the Loowit on the west side of the mountain. Repairs to the Toutle between Red Rock Pass and Blue Lake were made this summer. The large washout on the Loowit between the Sheep Canyon and Butte Camp Trail has been brushed out, but it won't be worked on until next summer.
Submitted Sat, 08/08/2009 - 7:45am by DAnderson
Aaron has a dream, and it's a mighty challenging one. He dreams of riding his mountain bike from the Ape Canyon Trail up to Windy Ridge, connect with the Boundary Trail head east and then ride down the Quartz Creek Trail and then finally connecting to the Lewis River Trail to finally arrive at the Lewis River campground, a soft air mattress and a much awaited beer. That is a very big challenge, which definitely has some potential to it! Who knows, maybe it could become an official ride called the Aaron's Challenge!
Submitted Fri, 07/24/2009 - 7:00pm by DAnderson
