Getting There
It's 28 miles from Woodland to the Cougar. There are a couple of gas stations here. Continue east on SR-503 which becomes Rd 90 for 9.5 miles to Ape Cave. Looks for the sign to Ape Caves, June Lake, Climber's Bivouac, Ape Canyon & Lava Canyon which is Rd 83. It's 0.3 miles to Trail of Two Forests and 0.7 miles to Ape Cave.
Ape Canyon and Lave Canyon are 10 miles north at the 83/90 junction. The trailhead is at the end of Rd 8300 on the southeast side of Mt St Helens.
The Hike
Elev. gain: 2,123 ft
Moving time: 4:20:35
Avg pace: 24:12
Calories: 2,636
Total time: 5:06:26
Talked to a lot of mountain bikers, all were friendly, esp when passing by (letting me know if others were behind them), many thanks for being out there as a MSHI volunteer.
One person was asking where Plains of Abraham was located. Met more mtn bikers at the Loowit/Ape Cyn junction that knew my name (from the other mtn biker), they were happy for the MSHI presence in the monument.
On my way back down, I met two backpackers in their 20s that recognized the MSHI logo and asked for stickers.
Lastly, I met two trail runners near
the switchbacks; one had done the Bigfoot 40M trail race the day before
and was heading back up to the Pumice Butte to take photos with their
race apparel.
