Goat Lake Loop/Cispus Pass/Mt Gilbert

[dfs1109]

The prettiest alpine area I've been in and was the most wildlife I've seen while hiking as well! Follow the link for a few of the photos.
http://imgur.com/gallery/wDOCO

Wednesday night/Thursday morning I left straight from work around 230am and drove the 4-4.5 hrs to Berry Patch TH (just pass Snowgrass TH). Last 12 miles is up a gravel road but is well maintained and very few washboards and pot holes except for the last 2 miles or so then be cautious of a few bumps in the road. Easy to get to by following the signs to "chambers lake" and "snowgrass TH".

I arrived around 630am and started my counter clockwise loop around 730. Right from the start you start gradually gaining elevation through beautifully forested section of the hike. 1.5 miles or so you start to catch glimps of Mt Rainier and Helens through the trees so make sure your not looking down at your feet. Eventually you come out of the woods and start getting into the alpine region while traversing the side of "Goat Ridge" on the way up to "Jordan Basin" on trail 95. Mt Helens is clearly visible to the west all the up. The view are extensive to the west and the grass covered, steep ridge lines are sure to be spotted with mountain goats! Once at the top of the basin be sure to stop and take in the views!

Continue climbing up a steep section to summit "goat ridge" and start heading toward "goat lake". Once over the ridge you will follow the trail hugging the side of the ridge. You know your close when you see a sign that prohibits camps fires. The green lake comes into view and servers as a great spot for lunch. At this point you should have walked 5.6 miles. As I had lunch over looking the lake and Mt Adams to the south, I fended off several attempts from birds and squirrels trying to get at my pack from 15-20 feet away. After my lunch I snapped a few photos of marmots on the rocks near the lake but sign of the herd of goats that I saw on the opposite side of the goat ridge on the way up.

Followed the "Lilly Basin trail" 86 hugging the ridge on the opposite side of from where I started for 3 miles to a signed junction at "bypass" trail 97. This goes east 1 mile connecting with the PCT where I made a right for 1.5 where I made camp at "Cispus Pass. There was another dozen or so mt goats further up on the ridge below the "Goat Rocks" which which dominate the view to the north. As I neared the goats I passed a beautiful water fall and due to the noise of the water I was able to sneak up on 3 mt goats that were about 10 meters in front of me!

Back I camp I made dinner and prepared for chilly night. Right before dusk the yelping of elk from the far ridge opposite of me were a family of 5 elk. I stared at them for a while but they seemed to just be waiting for the sunset, as was I.

The night was silent and the wind picked up a little (just enough to keep my tent dry of moisture). Since I had been up for a day and half I slept through the sunrise and awoke at 7am. I didn't feel bad about that since I was in the Cispus Basin and wouldn't be able to see it rise anyway. Plan was to summit Mt Gilbert that morning. As I was gathering my summit pack thick clouds came flooding the basin between the two ridges which made for fantastic photos. I noticed the elk from the night before still in the area across the basin. The clouds never rose above me and just swirled around the basin all day.

I didn't see a clear way up to where I wanted to be but figured that I would see it when I got there. I followed the Cispus Cr straight up the basin to the base of Goat Rocks. I started to veer right and climb when the severity of loose rock made it difficult to climb. I continued up a steep ridge which lead to great views of the Klickitat River and the basin facing SE. I turned North straight towards the mountain and that when things became real! The pass directly below the Big Horn that appeared to lead to Centennial Mt was nothing but loose rock and a very steep climb. Making sure to test every rock before grabbing a hold was a must. About 50% of the time what appeared to be sturdy rock was not! Be careful! I spent 2 hours climbing the loose rock and couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to get down. As I neared a slightly less inclined areas I decided that it wasn't smart to continue knowing that I had more difficult areas to surpass. I turned around, summit not obtained! Getting down was every bit as dangerous as I expected and had to improvise by sliding down on my foot in some areas and creating my own rock slide to dam up below me so that I had something sturdy to step on.

Anyway, I made it back to camp and packed up the rest of my gear. I went back across the Bypass Tr to Snowgrass Tr 96 and head down the ridge back towards the TH. As I neared the TH I passed several groups going up and was a big change compared to the 2 people I saw the day before. On the way down it is mostly forested which is the opposite for most of the hike and is exposed (bring sunblock). I got back to the car around 4pm after 30 miles and closed the loop.

Daniel

[woodswalker]

That's a really wonderful area. I camped and dayhiked up there this summer.
Woodswalker