Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

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Rabid Swan
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Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Rabid Swan » August 21st, 2013, 11:18 am

I spend a fair amount of time flying around on google earth looking for cool summits and ridges. One peak that stood out to me was Goat Peak just south of Jeff. After a quick internet search I found it to be a fairly straight forward cross country hike and a nice 4th class scramble to the peak. The whole Pamelia Lake permit system seemed to be a huge headache so we decided to follow the advice on summitpost for a hike that skirts around the permit zone. We started at the Bingham Ridge TH and upon arrival I realized I forgot my NW Forest Pass at home. We had an old day pass in the car and so we flipped it upside down hiding the date and walked away crossing our fingers. Bingham Ridge trail starts out in a choked old logging forest, but quickly turns into a beautiful forested hike.

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The trail passes through a burn area from the 2006 puzzle fire, but has had enough time to regrow a lovely base of bear grass.

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We eventually took a right on the Hunts Lake trail and followed this beautiful trail over to the PCT. You can see Goat peak to the right of Jeff which doesn't seem too far away, but the route we took meandered all over the place and took much longer than we had hoped.

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We were only going to be on the PCT for a quarter mile, but we were still hoping to run into some thru hikers. Sure enough two prime examples of stinky hiker trash showed up. After twisting their arm to lighten our load of beer and chatting for a bit we parted ways and hopped off trail at the cairn next to Cathedral ridge. The use trail was in good condition as we moved down towards the lakes below The Table and the cinder cone.

Cathedral on the left The Table on the right.
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Cinder cone on the Right Table on the Left. I trudged up the scree on the right to scout out camp sites, but there weren't many sheltered spots.

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The lake up on the cinder cone and a quick video of the view from the top of the rim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koaE2mQMtnY

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I was hoping we could camp near goat peak so we could watch the sunset from the summit, but the the long approach and meandering off trail travels left us exhausted. We set up camp on the small ridge in the middle of The Table mostly sheltered from the wind. We were expecting some light rain, but only had some threatening clouds roll past.

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Goat peak is directly under the summit and the northern half of The Table is below.

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We told ourselves that if the weather held up in the morning we would still make for the summit of goat peak and fortunately we lucked out and were treated with a beautiful morning.

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I opted for some solid low fifth class climbing over the loose fourth class route to the summit.

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Fires had completely covered up Washington and Sisters, but Jack was still visible.
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Parting image on our descent.

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We arrived back at the car to see a forest service truck parked nearby. Shoot! Fortunately we didn't get a ticket. Either they didn't check or figured we were idiots who put our permit upside down. Little did they know we are just idiots who forget to bring our pass!
Last edited by Rabid Swan on August 21st, 2013, 7:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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mattisnotfrench
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by mattisnotfrench » August 21st, 2013, 12:41 pm

That's such an awesome area! Nice TR - it's great to see more information and reports come out of this area.

I don't think Bingham Ridge is a Forest pass site. There's no bathroom, not much of a parking area and hardly anyone even knows it exists.
Author of Extraordinary Oregon!, PDX Hiking 365, 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, and Off the Beaten Trail. Website: www.offthebeatentrailpdx.com

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Crusak
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Crusak » August 21st, 2013, 4:52 pm

I agree with Matt. Nice to see more reports coming from that area. So much of the use in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness is concentrated in just a few locations. I think you chose the right spot and avoided the crowds. Love the parting shot of lupine, too.
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Splintercat
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Splintercat » August 21st, 2013, 5:33 pm

What a cool trip, Rabid! Thanks for posting -- excellent photos. I love that view looking across The Table at Goat Peak & Jeff -- really cool angle!

Tom :)

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Born2BBrad
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Born2BBrad » August 21st, 2013, 7:40 pm

RW,

That's awesome you made to the top of the cinder cone and Goat Peak! Those were two of the places I wanted to get to the next time I took that route.

I especially appreciate the picture nearing the top of Goat Peak. It gives me a better idea of what the approach is really like. I think I can do it.

Keep on hiking,
Brad
Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
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Rabid Swan
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Rabid Swan » August 21st, 2013, 8:37 pm

mattisnotfrench wrote:I don't think Bingham Ridge is a Forest pass site. There's no bathroom, not much of a parking area and hardly anyone even knows it exists.
Good to know. When we got back to the car there were only 3 other vehicles there. Not bad for a Friday afternoon. I guess it's only a matter of time before that changes.
Crusak wrote:So much of the use in the Mt Jefferson Wilderness is concentrated in just a few locations. I think you chose the right spot and avoided the crowds. Love the parting shot of lupine, too.
I thought the lupine was going to be all past bloom. Fortunately I was wrong. I think the Bingham Ridge Trail has a lot of potential. Nice grad, beautiful forest and the road wasn't too bad either.
Born2BBrad wrote: That's awesome you made to the top of the cinder cone and Goat Peak! Those were two of the places I wanted to get to the next time I took that route.

I especially appreciate the picture nearing the top of Goat Peak. It gives me a better idea of what the approach is really like. I think I can do it.

Keep on hiking,
Brad
I think it would be great to spend a whole day exploring that area. The Table, Cinder Cone, and Cathedral Ridge. The patch of trees below Goat Peak was one of my favorite areas and I'd really like to try camping there next time. Big boulders old trees and tons of camping options. Here are some more pics of the goat peak climb if it helps. For reference my buddy isn't fond of exposure and bailed on the route I took. This is the SE side where I went up and my friend starting the climb.
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He decided to find the true 4th class route up which seems to be on the north side of Goat Peak. Here is a pic from where he went up. I hope this helps!

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Get Out Backpacking
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Get Out Backpacking » August 25th, 2013, 9:56 pm

I have been wanting to check out this area for a long time. About a month ago I tried to get to it from Shale Lake on the PCT on a side trip and discovered that it was quite an ordeal.

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Sean Thomas
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by Sean Thomas » August 26th, 2013, 6:20 am

Beautiful photos. I love the pic with the tents in the foreground and the first pano you posted. Sounds like it was an awesome trip.

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retired jerry
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by retired jerry » July 29th, 2017, 2:45 pm

Somewhere here could be a good eclipse viewing location. Maybe the ridge southeast of Goat Peak.

Lots of open area nearby to camp.

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mattisnotfrench
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Re: Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Goat Peak and The Table 8/15-16

Post by mattisnotfrench » July 29th, 2017, 8:50 pm

retired jerry wrote:Somewhere here could be a good eclipse viewing location. Maybe the ridge southeast of Goat Peak.

Lots of open area nearby to camp.
It's a terrible location. Nothing but dragons and horseflies and monsters. I wouldn't recommend doing this trip to anyone.
Author of Extraordinary Oregon!, PDX Hiking 365, 101 Hikes in the Majestic Mount Jefferson Region, and Off the Beaten Trail. Website: www.offthebeatentrailpdx.com

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