Iron Goat Trail
Nov 16, 2008
by
bourbongal
—
last modified
Nov 16, 2008 09:01 PM
- Type of Outing
- Day hike
- Read More in our Hiking Guide
- Hike: Iron Goat Loop
- Region: Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass - West
- Agency: Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Skykomish Ranger District
- Trails: Iron Goat Trail (#1074)
- Avg Rating: 4.06
- Be Aware Of
- Water on trail
We left Seattle about 11 am today -- decided to let the marine layer burn off some before heading out Highway 2. We were looking for an easy hike and I had never done the Iron Goat Trail. We got on the trail about 12:45 pm -- it was sunny by then. Fall colors are pretty much over and most leaves are down but it was great to walk along the lower grade of the trail crunching in the leaves.
This really is a swell hike and now that all the leaves are down, the views are especially nice. We walked along the old railroad grade, peered into the tunnels, read all the interpretative markers about building the railroad through there. We walked the 3+ miles on the lower grade and then headed up the switchbacks to the upper grade to make the loop back to the trailhead. Note that this "counterclockwise" approach is much harder than going up the Martin's Creek trail to the upper grade immediately after starting the hike and doing the upper grade of the loop first. Nonetheless, the mile of uphill was a nice workout. We had a lovely picnic at the top.
There was a lot of water running off Windy Mountain and the trail was soggy in some spots on the upper grade. Took us about 3 hours and 15 minutes for the 7-8 mile round trip. We saw no one until we got back to the parking lot at the trailhead. There were only a few cars. This is a great time of year for this hike.
This really is a swell hike and now that all the leaves are down, the views are especially nice. We walked along the old railroad grade, peered into the tunnels, read all the interpretative markers about building the railroad through there. We walked the 3+ miles on the lower grade and then headed up the switchbacks to the upper grade to make the loop back to the trailhead. Note that this "counterclockwise" approach is much harder than going up the Martin's Creek trail to the upper grade immediately after starting the hike and doing the upper grade of the loop first. Nonetheless, the mile of uphill was a nice workout. We had a lovely picnic at the top.
There was a lot of water running off Windy Mountain and the trail was soggy in some spots on the upper grade. Took us about 3 hours and 15 minutes for the 7-8 mile round trip. We saw no one until we got back to the parking lot at the trailhead. There were only a few cars. This is a great time of year for this hike.
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