Ride the West Side - of Mount St Helens

Since we were unable to do this ride during Helens Fest I'm doing it on Sunday/25th!  On this ride we start at Red Rock Pass on the south/south-west side of Mount St Helens.  We ride north on the Toutle Trail and follow it, or the Kalama Ski (and bike!) Trail over to Blue Lake.  From there we climb over Huckleberry Gap and down to Sheep Canyon where a side trip will allow us to see the Sheep Canyon Falls.  From there we climb up Sheep Canyon Trail to the Loowit Trail.  We may make a side trip over to Sheep Canyon to see the wildflower display.  We'll head south on the Loowit to the Butte Camp Trail and descend the Butte Camp Trail back to Red Rock Pass.  Estimated distance is about 15 miles with about 4-5,000 feet of climbing.  This ride offers a lot of technical riding, interspersed with some buffy smooth trail reminiscent of the Ape Canyon Trail to the east.  There will be a fair amount of hike a bike on the loose debris flow below Blue Lake and up along the Loowit where there have been some recently repaired washouts. 

Bring your lunch and plenty of water.  Also bring insect repellant since the mosquitoes and horse flies on the west side of the mountain tend to be a bit more obnoxious than on the east side of the mountain.

Even though this ride is a lot more technical than the trails to the east I set a fairly doable pace for intermediate riders; you should expect a challenge and a variety of riding conditions.

Carpoolers should meet at the southern parking lot at the Gateway Park and Ride at 07:00/Sunday/25th.  You should leave there by 07:30 a.m.  A secondary meeting meeting would be the Fred Myers Parking Lot in Battleground at 08:00 (on the west side of the Hwy 503 and Main Street Instersection).  The ride leader, David Anderson (ujelang at gmail dot com) will be at the Rest Area in Cougar by 09:15.  We will leave the Cougar Rest Area by 09:30.

Loowit Trail at Sheep Canyon