Trip Reports

Just returned from a glorious weekend in the Methow. Today's hike up Goat Peak was lovely, with great 360-degree views from the top and beautiful late summer colors on the trail. The trail was steep, especially for us lowlanders trying to find some oxygen at 6000-7000 feet, but it's relatively short. The trailworker in me would have been putting in lots of drain dips and taking out some small, long-fallen trees, but there were no significant barriers. We had the trail to ourselves (and one grouse) until we approached the top and were passed by the local junior high cross country track team.

My 100 Hikes guidebook says the hike takes 6 hours, but we made it in about 3, despite lots of stops to rest and gawk and socialize at the top. The road is relatively good, though a bit washboardy. The dust from the long gravel drive found its way into all of our gear in back of the truck so that we looked like we had returned from Burning Man instead of a mere day hike.

Gorgeous day.

No Bugs no snow.

Still some flowers.

Full speed ahead!--Todd

If this trail was near Seattle it would be crowded on a sunny weekend. Since it is 200 miles of highway and 12 miles of gravel road away, and it was drizzling, we were the only people there.

We had a few hours to kill after rock climbing in Mazama, so we randomly picked this hike from the map. The road goes pretty high up on the ridge, so there's only one short steep part through the trees before getting to the lookout tower at the top. It's a well used trail so it's easy to keep track of through the snow patches. The lookout was locked up, and it was windy at the top, so we didn't hang around there for long.

20-30 minutes each way for the drive from Mazama, 2 hours RT for the hike.

Another beautiful day in the Methow Valley. Get here soon, the flowers are raging everywhere! I took my beautiful bride up to the lookout. At 7000' we felt like sea-level dwellers. Stunning views, outrageous flower display, and plenty of friendly families on the trail today. Bring snacks for Lightning Bill and Thunderdog Shilo. Five mile R/T, 1500' gain, 2:30 away from the car.

This is a short hike with great views into the North Cascades almost the whole way. The view of Silver Star is the most dramatic but can also see the Slate Peak lookout and look right down on Driveway Butte. Right now there are many flowers blooming. Columbia Lewisia covers the rocky areas and there is Western Climatis, dying Aval. Lily, Shooting Star and Larkspur, Arnica, Sticky Geranium and of course Lupine, Paintbrush and lots of Columbine close to opening. Of course there are many deer in this area and we saw several fawn, including twins.

The main road out of Mazama is signed ""No Thru Traffic"", but there is nothing else that says you can't go to Goat Peak and the lookout didn't think there were restrictions to hiking up at this time. I think the bulk of the 1400' elev. gain is in the 1st 1/2 of the hike, making it rather steep. The 2nd 1/2 is more pleasant, but the entire hike is beautiful. The views from the top are incredible and I happened to get there after a little rain, so there wasn't too much smoke in the way. Be warned, the lookout will want to take your picture for his photo album! He also will want to read you some of his poetry- which is actually very good. The is open and hot, bring lots of water. And, there were NO BUGS!

Road snow-free and well graded to trailhead at 5600'. Alternating trail/snow-patches for first mile. Continuous well-packed snow thereafter. Soft slush along the ridge at 3PM. Beautiful day and views with all the snow! No bugs except a new hatch of ladybugs in the rocks at top.

I had never been here before and still don't own the t-shirt (G)

I gather the trail is 2.5 miles and gains a steep 1,500 feet. For some reason the trail seemed steeper going up than coming back down. Usually, I will feel the steepness in both directions with the knees objecting more on the way down and the achilles and calfs objecting on the way up.

Neat vantage point accompanied by an interesting ranger guy watching for fires and reading his poetry. Lightning Bill is his name. He's spent a lot of time up there and knows his territory. He has fought fires in the past and watches for them now. I was treated to four of his poems as I was the first and solo arrival on that day. There was a lot of radio chatter as there was a new fire in the Pasayten as well as the ongoing fires down by Chelan.

He photographs all who come with a polaroid and has a sizeable collection of trophy shots. Two dogs stand (well, lie) watch with him up there.

All in all a different sort of trip.

Goat Peak Lookout/Mazama Area- Round-trip 5 miles, elevation gain 1500 ft.from 5500'-7000' Started the drive up FS Rd. #52 around 9:20a.m. Passed a couple of cows along the road. High clouds cooled things down from the day before. Left trailhead at 10:00 as it began to sprinkle half-heartedly. Thought I'd give it 1/2 hr. to clear off & that was the best decision. Rain and thunder stopped as the clouds began drifting west. Trail passes through several lovely meadows. Lowest ones are drying out but the upper ones reward the traveller with paintbrush, clematis, glacier lily and shooting star. Trail is steep and it is wise to bring plenty of water as there is none on the trail. It is dryer than I recall from years past at this time (July 7). The creeks running through the meadows were rather low in volume. There is typically a snow cornice where the trail intersects the ridge to the lookout where the ranger & his friendly dogs play host. The snow is easily side tracked on a social trail but it is not difficult or dangerous(it should be re-routed cuz people will just shortcut it anyway). The last 1/2 mile to the lookout is above 6500-7000' so it takes a bit of puffing. You are rewarded all along the way with improving views of Silver Star, Mt. Robinson and the Methow Valley below. Had a great lunch at 11:30 by the lookout but had to put on a longsleeve shirt to avoid the biting flies...no breeze today.

The road to Goat Peak was snow covered, but the ruts cut clear to the gravel, so the going was quite easy for our AWD Subaru Outback. By the time we got to the trailhead it was getting pretty deep. The trail is all in snow. In the lower sections there are a few big slippery rocks showing and it is a bit icy under the trees. The upper meadow is nice powder. We bushwacked in a pretty direct approach up to the ridge. We followed in the foot prints of one other hiker. We carried our snowshoes, but did not put them on as it was too brushy to get around easily. The views went on forever at the ridge top. No one had been to the Lookout lately as we checked it out by binoculars and didn't see any prints in the snow. The sun was shining on top, but it was cold and we were on the shady side in the woods on the way up....probably around 25 degrees or less. Lots of animal tracks in the snow on the way up. This was a great snow outting for us and probably our last trip over the N. Cascades before it closes.

It was a fantastic day in the methow.. I decided to pack up to the lookout with my little 2.5 year old boy on my back. We hit the trail @ about 10am and we were @ the top around 11:20am. The trail was in perfect condition with only a couple snow patches. Ran into a couple other crazed parents with children on backs.. Was lots of fun

A goregeous if cold day up in the methow. The weather was definitely moving through and looked very threatening, but as always nary a drop seemed to fall. Views to the end of the earth and straight down 6000 feet to mazama. Silver Star looks very different from this angle than from washington pass (a little more snowy to). Trail is in pretty good shape and STEEP. One small snow patch near the ridge crest should be gone within a week, otherwise the trail is 100% snowfree. The lower part of the road has serious washboard problems, while the upper half is in great shape, but regardless; even the puniest of cars can make it if you slow down.

We started out on what appeared to be an excellent weather forecast of partly cloudy skies with the trend toward clearing. Our destination was Goat Peak(7001 ft.) north of Mazama in the North Cascades. We left the Goat Creek Sno-Park about 7:30am. Our destination this day was the west side of Goat Peak which entailed about 8 miles of travel on a groomed, and well traveled, Forest Service road. It took us about 5 1/2 hours to reach the intersection of road 5225 and 200. From here we went uphill into a clearcut to find a place to camp with open slopes and the hope of afternoon sun. After 15 minutes we found what was the perfect site to set up our tent with magnifcent views from North Gardner to Robinson. As the afternoon proceeded the clouds thickened and soon snow started to fall. Well, so much for the improving weather forecast. About 3:30 I decided to head uphill and kick some steps toward our destination the following morning. The step kicking was hard in placing as I sunk down to mid calf, but after an hour I gained about 1000 ft. It was getting late so I turned around and headed back to camp just in time to fix dinner and change into warm clothes. As usual for winter camping the night was long but very relaxed. My only thought was if it would clear up overnight. The next morning I awoke about 3am and saw what appeared to be light from the southwest through the tent wall. Could this be moonlight' Finally awakening about 5am, I emerged from the tent and found clear skies with spectular clear views of the heavens above. I aroused my other half and we got ready for our day ahead. From our camp we headed up the west ridge of Goat Pk. The going was easy for the first thousand feet due to the steps I had kicked the previous evening. About 6000 ft. up the ridge we again encountered the ""whoomfing"" noise of unconsolidated snow as it settled. Then all of a sudden a crack shot out across the snow about 100 ft. and shook a small tree on the other end. We stopped for a moment and thought about the incident but then proceeded onward and upward. We finally gained the summit ridge and snowshoed to the summit which is 7001 ft. with a lookout. We were overwhelmed with the views from this vantage. To the southeast was the Methow Valley, then Gardner and North Gardner, Silver Star and around to Robinson. Sweeping across the arc we came back to the Methow Valley. Everything was quiet. After enjoying the views we decided, relunctently, to go back to camp. The descent was quick, taking only 2 hrs. It was great to get into the tent and relax. Later the sun went down and we fixed our dinner under the stars. The night was clear and beautiful with the moon out. We retired early for our trek out the next morning. We got up about 5 am and cooked breakfast then broke down our camp. About 8 we headed out ariving back at the sno-park about noon. For those who wish to travel to the Methow Valley this a great winter adventure.

The Punmeister and I ambled up to Goat Pk for the first of two hikes this Sunday, and were the first car at the trailhead, though not the last.

The clouds were quickly filling the sky to the west, but were high enough not to obscure the Cascade peaks. The larch, again, are turning orange and the needles will fall off at the slightest touch.

The trail is quite steep, but short as it climbs up the ridge via steep switchbacks and enters the larch groves. Once on the ridge, the trail drops a bit into open meadows, climbs into larch and to the now unmanned lookout (for the season). No poems from Lightning Bill this trip.

The sun kept popping into and out of clouds, and the wind was a bit cool, but shorts were comfortable.

A quick trip down so we could go on to the next hike....

My first trip to Goat Peak, although for the past two years (ever since I spotted the L.O.) I have wanted to go. The roads to the trailhead are in good condition and are easily driven with a two wheel drive vehicle. Extremely nice trail, through many meadows loaded with wildflowers. Only two snowfields and they were near the top and easy to maneuver around and over. Lightening Bill and his dog Turk greeted us and gave info on surrounding peaks and landmarks. Bill is very entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and him reciting a poem to us. I photographed lots of wildflowers on top of the lookout site. I liked this trail so much I am going back in two weeks and taking 3 of my friends.

Went up about 9:30 am from the trail head. Some snow on trail. Was glad we had treking poles for the snow. Got back to car about 11:30. About 10 other hikers.

This trail on the dry side starts high; 5600' elev. at the trailhead. After a lengthy level area the the path takes aim at the sky, hardly a switchback in sight. After reaching the ridgetop it's still a mile to the lookout. ""Lightning Bill"" is typical of the way-out-there USFS rangers who man these towers. We had our picture taken with ""Lookout Turk"" the firewatch dog. Really stunning views of Gardener, North Gardener, Robinson, and the big one, Silver Star. While this country has mostly round hills, don't overlook the big crags. Maximum reward for minimum effort. Since my father-in-law lived to tell the tale, I can rate this a family hike. Five miles roundtrip, two and a half hours, 1400' gain.

The road from Mazama was clear except for an occasional free-range inhabitant. There were no cars at the trail head at 10 am. However, that all changed quickly.

No snow on the trail - clear views and best of all Lightening Bill was there to greet us. He told us his lookout had been hit twice in one day from the electical storm.

Good hike!

Washington
Pass Highway 20 to Mazama , then FSR 5225-200 It was unbelievable that we did this 5 mile round tripper on a Sat. in mid July, to spectacular vistas and only saw two other groups all day, and both on our way down in the afternoon. After about 2 miles we we on the ridge at 6800 ft. Using binoculars I spotted a forrest fire to the east. Upon reaching the lookout tower found it is still manned. (The only one in the Okanogan area) so said "" Lightning Bill"" Austin the U.S.F.S. person in the tower. He had reported the fire yesterday. They sent smoke jumpers and a plane with retardent to control it. Bill allowed us to listen to all the radio comunications and explained to us how this was what he called a sleeper fire caused by lightning several weeks ago that had smoldered until conditions were right to ignite the surrounding area. The weather was clear and you could see the back side4 of Glacier Peak, Silver Star mountains glaciers and peaks, peaks, and peaks. The trail was hot and dry and the flying ants dissapeared at noon.P.S. Lightning Bill takes polooroids of all visiters- Goat boy has been unmasked. A.R.T. & J.R.