Today I summited Vanson Peak in a cloud. 

I began at Goat Creek trailhead, as opposed to Goat Mountain trailhead. Both access the Vanson Peak trail, and I believe the Goat Creek approach may be less miles round trip. 

A note on Goat Creek trailhead, I'm of the opinion that no parking passes or fees are required, I saw no signage and also there are no facilities. I checked the USFS site for this trail and it states this also. 

About a mile in, you approach Cathedral Falls. This very high and beautiful light waterfall is really special, you basically hike through it on the trail following underneath a rocky, cavernous stretch. 

I continued on the Goat Creek trail to the junction where it splits off to Tumwater Mountain. Veered right and slightly uphill towards Vanson Peak. 

There are so many waterfalls on this trail it reminded me of Iceland. Once you reach the junction for Goat Mountain trail, you're within 15 minutes of the peak. This is the steepest portion. 

Reaching the top, there is a small clearing with a fire ring, which perhaps may have been a former lookout site, followed by a short scramble to a rock outcropping 10-20ft below the clearing. I was 100% socked in. 

I encountered two backpackers from Vanson Lake and they gave it high praise. I didn't see any others again until close to the trailhead on my return trip. Very quiet area. Highlight of the hike was hanging with Mr. Frog. 

RT 12.2m/3152ft

The road is open to the Goat Creek trailhead above Riffe Lake, but in its usual potholed state.  Someone has spread pieces of travel trailer up and down the road, sadly.  The trailhead parking is large with a trailer turnaround, the edges are steep.  The trail is a nice starting hiking trail as is flows gently up and down, crossing several streams and some tricky washed out areas.  The entire first part of the trail meanders along cliff edges, so you would want to be comfortable with drop offs. The waterfall is in great shape, with a cute ice mountain on the back side.  We went up the Vanson trail at the Vanson/Tumwater divide and that is when we ran into some snow and some big trees down across the trail.  We were able to get over/around them without too much trouble.  We turned back where the trail crosses the creeks and heads uphill. A nice day hike!

Lots of fog along Highway 12 as I drove to the TH this morning, but the cloud layer didn't extend very far from the valley floor and we set off on the trail under slightly hazy skies. Ran into a group of backpackers on their way out shortly after the Vanson Peak turnoff, but otherwise only saw one other dayhiker couple until I got back to the Goat Creek trail. That's one of the things I love about this hike besides the varied flora and lovely groves of old growth - I hardly ever see anyone out past two miles. Anyhow, wildflowers are pretty much done except for a few small patches and berries are well underway at elevation. Not much of a view from the peak due to lingering smoke, but the overall air quality felt ok. Did the lollipop loop at the top and stopped for lunch at Vanson Lake, both for me and the bugs, so we didn't linger long before wrapping up and heading back down the mountain.

Overall an extremely nice, long hike. Trail's in great shape and while Cathedral Falls isn't going strong right now, there's still plenty of water flowing in all of the various side creeks. Bugs were only a problem at the lake, not on the trail.

I did this as an out-and-back, from the trailhead close to Cathedral Falls, up to the summit(s) of Tumwater Mountain -- or Tumwater Peak, as the signage appears to call it, although the sign is in disrepair. So, while I didn't do a loop, I'm tagging the Goat Creek Loop, since the info on the trail up on the mountain will be relevant.

The falls are beautiful (despite the graffiti UGH!), although the flow is pretty light presently. There are a few other, smaller falls after that, and the creek itself is often lovely alongside the trail.

The first real water crossing is at ~1.6 miles. Having read up on this route, I brought along sandals to swap into here. The ultralight/thruhiker types among you will undoubtedly forge ahead in your quick-drying trailrunners, but I feared my hiking shoes would have stayed waterlogged for the next 10 miles.

The second and final water crossing of note is only 1/2 mile later, so if like me you're changing shoes, you might just want to keep your water shoes on until you cross both, but I did change footwear back and forth each time in both directions.

After that second ford, the elevation gain begins in earnest, rising 2,300 feet in the next 2.5 miles. Although there's been some obvious trail work done (thanks, crews!), there was a significant amount of lumber on the trail. I cleared many, many limbs and smaller trees, but there are still a number of large trees down. None is particularly difficult to surmount, but some are a slight pain and/or obscure the trail.

After this steep section, according to both the Gaia map I was following and Cal Topo, the trail is supposed to form a loop of sorts up top, skirting the seasonal tarn on one side, and crossing the highpoints of Tumwater Mountain on the other.

I was surprised to find significant patches of snow near the tarn, although there’s very little on the trail itself, and not for long, I’m sure.

I never saw what should have been the first fork, before the tarn, on climbers right. However, having read some trip reports on Peak Bagger saying it involved a fair amount of bushwhacking, I followed their advice and continued on past the tarn to the second fork, which itself was pretty obscure and a little bushwhack-y. You'll want to have your map handy. I'm afraid this summit spur/loop trail is being lost.

Take the sharp right to double-back to Tumwater Mountain. The first (east) summit, which is supposedly the higher of the two, is treed in, although there is a view over to Rainier, and you can see Hood just before this highpoint.

The second (west) summit is the one you really want, though. From here, I had clear views to Rainier, Adams, Hood, St. Helens and much more. 

After a snack up top, I doubled back the way I came. All told, it's about 12 miles roundtrip, and 3,700 feet of gain to the summit. Save a little gas in the tank for the last couple of miles. It was steeper on the way back out from the creek than it seemed on fresh legs on the way in!

I did a single night overnight at Vanson Lake, stopping at Vanson Peak on the way in and again on the way back out.  I didn't do the loop over to Deadman's Lake or Tumwater Mountain, so I don't have any information on that section of the loop trial.

The trail was generally in great shape, thanks to a couple of friendly bikers who had logged the trail the day before and were working to brush it out.  There was a section by Cathedral Falls that was a little sketchy - wet, slippery clay.  Poles were useful. 

There are also some steep drop offs.  The trail was flat and sufficiently wide in these areas, but a trip or a startle reaction when encountering bikers could have consequences.

The river crossings I encountered on the way to Vanson were fine with poles. 

The river crossing just after the junction heading over to Tumwater does indeed require a ford, but it wouldn't be bad.  Maybe mid-calf?.  We spent a bunch of time lounging and foot-soaking there on the way out.  I neglected to complete the ford, which was a missed opportunity because I think there's a giant waterfall just around the corner from that crossing.