What a wonderful day to be on the trails!! The road to the trailhead is in great condition. With an early start I took the Lower Trail up to the lake and the Upper Trail back to the trailhead. Both are in excellent shape and dry. With the leaves off the trees it allowed for views of the mountains with their "powder-sugared" tops. Unfortunately the clouds dropped covering up the peaks for the return trip since the Upper Trail provides more views. The lake was beautiful and Foggy Peak was out in all it's white glory before it became cloud covered. The only people I saw all day were the 4 backpackers at the lake that had spent the night. It really is hard to believe it is February with these great hiking conditions.

What a treat! After two weeks of sub freezing temperatures with zero precipitation this trail is snow free and the streams and waterfalls have become breathtakingly beautiful ice flows. Words don't do it justice.

We started on the Lower Elliott trail and connected to the Goat Lake Trail. We turned around about a half mile from the lake because we were running out of daylight. We took the Upper Elliott route back to the trailhead finishing in the dark.

Lower Elliott follows Elliott Creek which was stunning with lots of ice formations. There are about half a dozen stream crossings on the trail that were frozen nearly solid and easily crossable without traction. We brought micro spikes but didn't need them.

The Uppper Elliott trail follows an old logging road and is less interesting but still offered some stunning ice flows and territorial views across the valley with snow capped peaks.

This hike produced lots of oohs and aahs--an amazing afternoon out in a winter wonderland.

We saw Goat Lake mentioned in the recent Rainy Day hikes article and thought we’d try it out. It makes a great late-fall hike, especially after the rains start and the alders are bare. There are lots of waterfalls – some close and some in the distance.
We took the lower trail going in. The dense alder forest had lost its leaves, so the morning sun provided nice light. The forest floor had a thick green carpet of fallen alder leaves and the dense white alder trunks were quite striking. It’s probably pretty dark in the summer when the alder trees are leafed out. Elliott Creek and MacIntosh Falls were roaring. The lower trail is in good shape, only short sections have water running on the trail, and the crossings are easy. After re-joining the upper trail there were more sections with water on the trail, including the climb to the lake. There were very few trees with any leaves, but there was snow on the hillsides above the lake making it very pretty. At Goat Lake we had full sun but a gentle rain at the same time, with great views of waterfalls and snowy peaks. We took the upper trail back to the car, it’s not quite as interesting as the lower trail but it provides nice views of craggy, snowy peaks in the distance.

This hike had been on my list for awhile and I finally made it to Goat Lake. Its over 10 miles round trip and while long was never overly taxing. I had visited the trailhead once before and took the side trail to Chokwich Falls located off the Upper Elliot Creek Trail. My goal for this day though was McIntosh Falls and the lake itself. Driving up the Mountain Loop Hwy. from Granite Falls was great. The sun was out as were the falls colors. The road was in good shape after the pavement ended at Barlow Pass and I was at the trailhead before I knew it. Four other cars greeted me at the parking lot and alot of people were registered for the day. I saw most of them on the way down and saw the last of them leaving the lake by the time I got there so at least I had the lake to myself when I was there!

I left the parking lot and soon found the spur for the Lower and Upper Elliot Creek Trails that lead to the lake. I opted for the lower trail and hiking near Elliott Creek for the trip in. The sound of the water was nice in the cool morning forest. I came across lots of mushrooms, some quite large and fall colors everywhere. Eventually the trail left the creek and its noise behind as it entered a large section of birch and alder trees before joining up with the Upper Elliott Trail and the final push to McIntosh Falls and Goat Lake. The lower trail is in good shape now but will have mud holes once the rains kick in. Soon after the trails connected the trail entered the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness Area and the old growth trees quickly made an apperance. From here it was about another 1 1/2 mile to the lake and most of the climbing the trail did was on this last stretch. I started to catch glimpses of the surrounding peaks fresh with the first snow of the year urging me on. Although steep in places the climb was not bad and had extra long switch-backs making the final ascent not too bad. Along this stretch I almost went off the trail in a couple places so I made sure to pay attention that I was on the trail here. As I climbed the hill I could here Elliott Creek flowing again and it wasn't long before I found McIntosh Falls off to the side. It took a bit of bushwacking to get to the bottom but the falls were great as the water cascaded over craggy rocks. After a short rest I made the final quick push to the lake.

Goat Lake was simply spectacular! I cannot say enough about its beauty. Foggy Peak sits right above the lake covered in snow and glaciers. Another small glacier sits below the peak in a shady wash. The mountain would reflect off the lake when the breeze wasn't blowing and just made for a wonderful scene. Add in the fall colors on the surrounding hills, the other mountain peaks, and it made for a perfect sunny fall day in the mountains. After some luch it was time to go. After climbing back down and past the wilderness boundary I opted to make the full loop and follow the Upper Elliott Cree Trail back. The upper trail follows on old forest road and starts with a mild climb. It then leveled out and went downhill for most of the way back. Although not as forested as the lower trail the upper trail is easier to follow with almost no obstacles. This made for a quicker pace even though the route was slightly longer. It also offered occasional views of mountain peaks before finally dropping back to the spur with the lower trail and the last stretch to the parking lot. I was sore and it was a long hike but the trip to Goat Lake was worth it.