Yearly Archives: 2020

What better way to blow out the end of the season than backpacking with the man himself? I recently returned from a guided trip just outside the town of Escalante in southern Utah led by Andrew Skurka and Christy Rosander. Over the course of five days we explored the high desert, slickrock passes (slickrock being the sandstone equivalent of granite and not the least bit slick), and the massive slot canyon Death Hollow (quite possibly my favorite day of hiking ever). We also saw natural arches and bridges, native cave art and pottery shards, an assortment of waterfalls, incredible sunsets, [...]

Three weeks after an unexpected injury sidelined me from my initial attempt I successfully completed the loop around Mount Saint Helens. The Loowit Trail is a 30-mile loop around Mount Saint Helens, an active volcano in southwestern Washington State which famously blew its top in 1980. The northern half of the trail crosses the "blast zone", a slowly-recovering volcanic wasteland where off-trail travel and overnight camping are prohibited. No permit is required and the trail is indirectly accessible via several "feeder" trails, with most hikers starting from either the Climber's Bivouac or June Lake trailheads on the south side of [...]

An erosional canyon formed by the Muddy River The Loowit Trail is a 26-mile loop circumnavigating Mount Saint Helens, which famously erupted in 1980, in southwestern Washington State. It's been on my bucket list for the past few years and earlier this month I made my first attempt. Unfortunately it was also the first trip I've had to cut short in recent memory due to injury. The northern face of the mountain was destroyed in the eruption and the devastated area immediately north of it is known as the blast zone. Although slowly recovering, it is, for the most part, [...]