It is a long way to the trail head at Chambers Lake; four hours from Green Lake via Hwy 410 in Friday evening traffic. Joan and I crashed in the back of my pick-up while Jonathan slept in the back of his Outback. There was still some snow in the parking lot. We decided to do the Goat Ridge, Goat Lake, Old Snowy, Snowgrass Flat loop in that order. The trail was in perfect condition for 5% of the time, covered with mud 10%, and snow 85%. Goat Lake has not even thought about melting out yet. Step kicking was easy in the consolidated snow, but ice axes gave us a sense of security on the steeper traverses. We found an awesome camp on dry ground at 7,000'. A miracle in itself. We dropped our packs and walked up Old Snowy for exquisite evening views with perfect weather. It was so perfect in fact, when we got back to our packs we decided to cowboy camp and not bother with tents. It only got down to 48degrees in the morning. (At 7,000'!)

Despite the iffy weather forecast, we decided to do the popular Snowgrass Flat / Goat Ridge Loop this week. We followed Dan A. Nelson's advice ("Best Loop Hikes - Washington") and traveled in a counter-clockwise direction. We started at the Chambers Lake trailhead at 4600'.

The trail was in good condition, but was in no hurry to gain altitude. After hiking about 3 miles, my altimeter said we were at only 4800'. But then the climbing began. The next 1.2 miles gained 1000 feet to bring us to the first trail junction, a connector to the Pacific Crest Trail. Staying left on trail 96, we soon came to the junction with Trail 86, our loop route back via the Goat Ridge Trail.

After setting up camp, we hiked up farther along Trail 96. Clouds were dancing around both Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens, but didn't hinder good views from above.

In the morning we set out to climb Old Snowy. Trail 96 connected to the PCT, which continued up to the crest. The blueberry bushes along the trail were starting to turn to their fall colors, but sadly they still had green berries on them or often none at all. The bears are going to be hungry this fall! There was no significant snow on the trail except for Packwood Glacier, just shy of the ridge line. And it was no problem.

There was a trail all the way to the summit of Old Snowy, with multiple gravelly paths near the top. Choose your scramble route carefully; the rocks dislodge easily. On the summit we chatted with a proud father and his six-year-old son. Kudos to you both! The summit was quite windy but afforded nice views of three volcanos: Adams, St. Helens, and Rainier. Low clouds on the horizon blocked longer distance scenery. Lenticular clouds were forming around Mt. Adams, then blowing away to the east, forming the meteorological equivalent of smoke signals. We got the message: our dry weather was coming to an end.

There were no goats visible on either side of the crest. I scanned with my monocular, expecting to see a large herd (maybe to the north, where I had seen a herd on a different trip), but came up empty this time.

On the way down, we opted to follow the PCT and trail 97 around Snowgrass Flat. This section of the PCT has a head-on unobstructed view of Mt. Adams. Nice. Further on we were thrilled to encounter several springs bubbling out of the ground. Camping is prohibited in this area.

We were back in camp when the showers began around 5:00 p.m. They continued all evening, turning into steady rain overnight. By morning, a misty fog enshrouded us. We hiked out in drizzly conditions. The cliff-side trail on either side of Goat Lake was very wet because of the rain, but was otherwise in good condition. At Goat Lake, we couldn't even see the opposite shore due to the fog.

The descent along the Goat Ridge trail was muddy and very slippery, again because of the conditions. We could see enough of Jordan Basin to judge it as quite pretty.


NOTE: This hike spans four quad maps (e.g. Green Trails 334, 335, 303, and 302). My maps are not all recent, and I found that the mileages and altitudes were suspect. In particular, the altitude of the off-page connector of the PCT at the bottom of map 303 was 6200'. Yet it clearly was between the contour lines for 6400' and 6800'! The same point on connecting map 335 was labeled 6400'. Both maps were last updated in 2004. There are also mileages that just seem wrong. Maybe it's just that my maps are old; maybe not. Be aware.

Getting to the trail head was a bit frustrating because the sign to Rd 2150 off of Rd 21 is gone and 2150 is located 12.8 miles up Rd 21 not 15.5 miles as described. Once there it was a great hike with beautiful alpine vistas, mtn goats and plenty of marmots.

White pass PCT to Snow Grass Flats/Goat Lake and back. 46 miles, 10,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Bugs annoying from White Pass for about 2 miles then easing off. Encountered a hiker in tears giving up on a long trek due to mosquito attack. 30% deet on all exposed skin and recommend pretreatment with permethrin (available at REI for example near jungle juice) on clothing. The trail is in great shape. There are plenty of camp spots and lots of water available in various locations. Near Elk Pass there are a couple of snow crossings that deserve attention and caution. Recommend poles at least. The trail over old snowy is in great shape and is safe if you keep your focus. Avoid walking the ridge in bad weather as there is no easy way down for about 3 miles and a lightening storm would be a little dangerous.

We camped the second night at 7200 feet just below the trail summit of Old Snowy on the basin side. Looking down at Goat Lake and the basin, across to Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St Helens. We cross countried to Goat Lake, glissading down the snow field and then walking around the upper valley maintaining elevation and then dropping down to the trail near Goat lake. Then looped around the trail, taking a connector shortcut up to the PCT and back to camp. On the way back we jumped off the ridge and glissaded down to a valley just South of Elk Pass (just before the hump on the ridge south of Elk Pass) and walked out of the valley, curving to the left and connecting with the PCT on the ridge at the high point prior to Tieton Pass.

Saw a coyote and a herd of Elk. Lots of sign of goat, elk, and deer. Loads of furry cute marmots. Great wild flowers in the high country. Indian paint brush, alpine lupine, subalpine lupine, creeping phlox, etc.