This was a great, four-day trip through the heart of the Goat Rocks Wilderness that I did with my 8-year old pooch Kirah. We started at the Snowgrass trailhead and did the classic central loop counterclockwise. The loop isn’t very long, so I set up a base camp in the meadowy area north of Snowgrass Flat and did a couple of different day hikes from there. This was exactly as Retired Jerry had suggested in an earlier thread. It turned out to be a good plan and I thank Jerry for the idea. We had perfect weather all four days and I saw more wildlife than I ever have in a single trip. The critters included mountain goats, marmots, deer, birds of prey, a herd of elk and the yips and howls of coyote at night.
This area has been covered quite a bit here on Portland Hikers already so I’ll try to just hit the highlights.
Our trip started around lunch time on Thursday and in short order we were crossing the bridge at Goat Creek…
The hike in is mostly in the trees but along the way there’s a good view of Mt. Adams…
Entering the meadows where I eventually found a great campsite…
Mmmm, steak for dinner!
Served up with a nice Cabernet and later some fresh picked huckleberries for desert..yummy!
And yes, Kirah got to enjoy a wee bit of steak as well!
Alpenglow on Goat Ridge the next morning…
On Day 2 we hiked up to the high point of the PCT, which is near the summit of Old Snowy Mountain.
We get a glimpse of Mt. St. Helens along the way…
Much of this day hike is above timberline…
We pass through Marmot Town…
Cross a large snow field…
Enjoy spectacular vistas along the way, like this one with Goat Lake and Mt. Ranier…
Eventually we reach the summit of the PCT, it’s highest point in all of Washington at about 7600 ft.
A group of women who were through-hiking the PCT were taking a break here…
They left their packs near the trail and headed off to the summit of Old Snowy…
It looked like a fun scramble but a little too rugged for my pooch...
A pond on the mountain's north side…
Back at camp it was time to try out my new Bushbuddy wood-burning stove…
It works great, boils two cups of water with just a couple handfuls of small twigs. No heavy fuel to carry!
On Day 3 we headed south for a dayhike to Cispus Pass.
A frog near Snowgrass Flat…
Lovely Cispus Basin…
Looking into the Klickitat drainage from Cispus Pass…
We passed some horses on our way home…
Early the next morning I heard the bugle of an elk. Sure enough, just a couple hundred yards away from my camp a whole herd were making their way down from the high country…
And up high there were a few goats grazing as there had been every morning…
It’s Sunday, our last day, and regrettably it’s time to head out…
We pass Goat Lake on the way…
The lake is finally completely free of ice!
A final look back at the jagged spine of Goat Rocks as some big, puffy clouds begin to roll in…
Here's a map of the route (mostly hand drawn).
Awesome trip!
Gordon
