Backpacked up to highest peak that could be done by my 6 year old son about 6600 ft. Excellent hike but a little slow with 50 lbs. on your back. The views at the top were something to write about. All the day hikers were gone by 5:30 so we had the whole mtn. to ourselves. Very relaxing evening after a leg burning hike.

The weather turned out to be much better then predicted with many views, except for Mt Baker, which remained hidden by clouds all day. The Goat Mtn trail is in excellent shape until the ridge. Then a few snow patches appear. I followed the ridge straight up to the W summit, then descended a short ways on the N ridge until I could traverse snow slopes SE to the saddle with the E summit. A scramble on mostly steep heather and some rock led to the top of that peak. I descended back to the saddle then traversed SW through several basins directly back to the trail. A very nice trip.

What a wonderful day to go hiking in the North Cascades! Finally, a sunny day on the weekend!!! Trail is 99.8% snowfree to the first lookout after the first meadows. It is in excellent shape, and nowhere near as brushy as I remember it being last year. Looks like some folks have done some brushing and lopping around there in the last year. The berries are coming out full force, but it is still quite a few weeks before they'll be ready to be snarfed down by berry-monsters like myself. The grade is gentle for the first 10 switchbacks, and there is a nice long flat spot right after you enter the Mt. Baker Wilderness. A few more switchbacks in the forest, and then you get to the meadows. And what do meadows bring us, boys and girls' That's right class, VIEWS! While Baker is still trying peek out from lingering clouds or from behind Herman, Shuksan stands out in all it glory. What a distraction! Woo hoo! After the first lookout, the trail is covered in snow, but it is still easy to follow the trail. The upper meadow is snowfree until you reach the gullies. However, at about 5800ft, the trail is obliterated by rock/water/snow slides. We ended up stopping there. Although, someone else managed to blaze through it before us. How he managed it... I don't know. But the views of Baker & Shuksan from there were enough to keep me happy. It was a busy day. Met about a bazillion people on the way down. Good day, good hike!

This is the Goat Mt. above the North Fork Nooksack, not one of the many other Goat Mountains and Peaks around. The trail is snowfree to the classic lunch site at 5150', except for one fairly small and easily negotiated patch. This lunch spot provides a wonderful balcony view of Shuksan a few miles to the south, and of Sefrit even closer. Baker pokes its top 2000' or so above Slate Mountain. There is also a great view eastward down into the classic deep valley of Ruth Creek. Flowers are impressive. Lots of bunchberry along the lower half of the trail. Scads of glacier lillies higher up, including one spectacular meadow completely covered with them (plus a scattering of springbeauty for variety). We investigated a bit higher up. The trail is 90% covered with snow for a third of a mile or so starting at about 5350'. However, with a map (or a knowledge of the habits of trail builders) you should be able to make your way through it without much trouble - no ice axe needed here. We did not go much beyond 5450', where the trail largely breaks out of the snow again. However, the higher parts, starting perhaps around 5700', looked like they had some ice axe stretches. FS 32 on the way in had its usual abundant chuckhole displays, with a few pretty cavernous specimens, but it is still entirely passable for normal passenger cars.

Access right now is via the Hannegan pass road, due to a fallen tree on the Twin Lakes Road. The Trail on the lower elevations is easy going. But where the snow starts, it starts deep. Definitely, bring snowshoes. The hike up to where you first see Goat is 4 hours. So, start early and plan to finish late. We did not make it all the way since we got a late start. The down trip was about 2 hours.