Ape Canyon plus hike onto Plains of Abraham
Walk up old growth ridge to plains of Abraham. Continue on to the Plains of Abraham for as far as you like.
The Details
Miles: 16
Elevation Gain: 3930
To Trail-head: Drive to Cougar WA, then Rd 83 to the trail-head
Season: Summer through October
Link to route map and GPS
Link(s) to other trail descriptions:
My Experience
Woke up at 5 am and drove up to Ape Canyon trail head before sunrise. To my surprise there was a car in the parking lot and a pair of headlamps making their way up the ridge. About a mile into my hike the sun came up creating a stunning alpenglow over St. Helens. The fall color was amazing but the peak colors were probably 1 week ago. I cursed all the downhills but was thrilled to be adding to my total elevation gain as I headed back up the ridge once more. At about 6 miles you reach the Ape Canyon viewpoint itself and just a little further on you arrive at the junction with Loowit trail which travels all the way around the mountain. Feeling good I decided to continue up onto the Plains of Abraham to the junction with Abraham trail. Was so fascinated by the Pyroclastic "bombs" that dot the surface of the plain that I almost did not notice the mountain goat making a parallel hike to mine. Enjoying the solace the mountain solitude was providing me; I felt I could have continued hiking all the way around the mountain if I had the time. But ultimately my watch beeped and let me know that I had been hiking for nearly 3 hours and 8 miles and it was time to turn around. I did a slow but heart rate elevating trail run back to the car (16 miles, 5 hours in total) greeting all the mountain bikers making their way up. Feels good to have an epic hike completed by the noon hour.
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