Getting There
I drove from Portland to Randle, then dropped down on NF-25 but had to take a detour passed Cispus Learning Center via NF-76, reconnecting with NF-25 at Iron Creek Campground. Then, continued south to NF-99. I continued north towards Windy Ridge and Cascade Peaks Interpretive Center. The MSHI Field Camp is down NF-380 & NF-2560 about 2.3 miles. It took a few minutes but I figured out the mult-lock gate and started down the road.
This part of the drive gave me a lot of anxiety. This is where I had my first bout of vertigo while driving to field camp last summer. I didn't find the exact location where I had to pull over but was relieved when I got the my destination.
Overnight, it was quite windy. I had some trouble getting my rain fly secured due to the rocky ground. I was making a lot of noise, whipping around. I figured it was just how it was going to be but around 1am or 2am, the rain fly had to go, it wasn't needed anyway. I got up and removed it. Peace and quiet at last. Except the moon was so bright! LOL.
In the morning of the hike, I packed up camp and had some breakfast with the group. As was getting ready to go, one the guides who was camped about 15 feet away made a comment about the rain fly.
I offered a weak apology. Oops. My bad. I hopped in my car and drove about 8 miles to the Windy Ridge parking lot to carpool with fellow volunteers and guides/staff.
The Hike
Elevation Gain: 1,760 feet
Max. Elevation: 5,277 feet
Note: This isn't the actual hike route. We are accessing an area that is off-limits to the general public through special permission from the USFS & the Cowlitz Tribe, I didn't want to make the actual route public. This is just the AllTrails map for Loowit Falls, which IS open to the public.
Additionally, we had access to the trail from the staging site for the Spirit Lake tunnel project road.
At the trailhead and Spirit Lake Tunnel staging area, we got our gear together and head out on the trail. The weather was great, clear skies and dry.
When we got to the point of the hike were we started off trail, one volunteer wasn't feeling up to it. One of the climbing guides said he would hang back with them while the rest of the group continued to the overlook.
I was wearing my halter monitor but didn't tell anyone. It was good to do a "stress" test. I was worried about not being able to do this hike due to vertigo and palpitations. I felt a burst of confidence that I was in good shape. Not to shame the person that had to hang back (schadenfreude).
We saw a couple dozen mountain goats, many of the adults still had most of their winter coats and it was mid-summer. Not sure if people from the Cowlitz had collected the fur but we didn't see much on the bushes.
The glacier appeared to have advanced north (towards us) since the previous year. It is still 60/40 snow to rock but you see the leading edge because of the darker dirt/pumice (wet).
On our way back to the trailhead, I didn't take many photos but did catch a couple shots of the wildflowers: a lot of Indian paintbrush (reddish) and prairie lupine (purple).
In our "roses & thorns" debrief, many acknowledged how cool it was to hike in a big group with fellow MSHI volunteers, since we normally rove solo or in pairs.
