We did the West Peak which involved a short scramble, but there's a trail that goes all the way to the false summit.

Parking lot & Road: Forest road 32 was pretty decent and it's around 2.5 mi front Mount Baker Highway. Parking lot was small. Maybe fit around 7 cars, and I am not sure if you can park on the side of the forest road. There's a pit bathroom at the trailhead.

Trail I recorded 10.36 mi round trip. First 3 miles was through a shaded forest with some switchbacks and there's no view. Trail was dry and easy to follow. Bugs were relentless especially when we passed through a more brushy and overgrown area. It was humid too so bring plenty of water. I drank 5 l during the entire trip.

There's one decent water source at around 5906 ft. It's a stream surrounded with wildflowers. I recommend to filter water there on the way up and down. Other than that, I did not see any other reliable water source.

From the water source, the trail was pretty much straight up. Poles were helpful although I was fine without them.

Around few hundred feet before the false summit, we took a left, scrambled through the scree, avoiding the snowfield to reach the west peak. The scramble probably took around 30 mins or so. So it's not that bad. 

Goat Mountain offered one of the best views over the Cascades on a bluebird day. I am not great at recognizing some peaks but I could see Tomyhoi Peak, American Border Peak, Mount Larrabee, Winchester Mountain, Mount Ruth and of course Shuksan and Baker. I could even see Price Lake below Shuksan.

My scrambling buddy who did Church Mountain the day before even mentioned that the view was even better than Church.

Wildflowers were also abundant especially above the treeline.

We only saw 3 small group of hikers. The trail was pretty deserted. It took us a little over 8 hours in total with plenty of breaks.

I just hiked Yellow Aster Butte the week before, and at first I thought this hike would pale in comparison… but then I realized that I was one of three people on this mountain, and that was pretty amazing.

A little overgrown on the trail starting around mile 2.5. A fair amount of bugs (started on the trail at 9:40), but I just wore a sun shirt and switched from shorts into jogging pants once I turned around and started going downhill, so they didn’t bother me much even though I didn’t have bug spray.

The lookout (the end of the official trail) is very pretty and has lots of rocks to sit on and look at the mountains. Also, about a third of a mile past the lookout was gorgeous (pictured) and I felt like I was in The Sound Of Music.

Listened to podcasts loudly the whole way down, sorry LNT sticklers

First off, the statistics for this one are off: my GPS agreed with AllTrails and the other trip reports that the actual distance is 10.1 miles and 4,120ft of ascent.

The road in has plenty of potholes but shouldn’t be an issue for anyone. The first three miles of trail is under tree cover and has a milder grade. It gets brushy for maybe a mile, then breaks out into the glorious alpine meadows. Wildflowers are out in full now, and the views of the North Cascades are epic.

The upper section of trail is STEEP and has a fairly sheer drop to one side. Easily navigable but if you get scared of heights, this one probably isn’t for you. There were several unmarked junctions on this stretch, we and another group went the wrong way and had to backtrack. After that, there is a washout for about 100 yards that is dicey but can be crossed carefully. All was worth it when we topped out on the West summit to stunning 360 degree views of the North Cascades. My brother and I ate a burrito from the Wake and Bakery and he napped. Very little wind, super quiet, and we saw a few dust devils on the rocks. Overall a great day in the mountains, but my quads would like to file a complaint. 

The road to Goat Mountain is in good condition, some potholes but nothing terrible.

My GPS agrees with other trip reports, closer to 9.5 miles and 4K elevation (this includes the unofficial trail).

This would be a good hike to do when it is really hot out as the first portion is in the trees/in the shade. That being said once you get towards the end of the official trail, into the alpine meadow, and onto the unofficial trail there is rarely any shade available so do bring hats and sunscreen!

The official trail is easy to follow and brings you up to some epic views. The unofficial trail has some sketchy (to me) parts with steep and slippery rock but that's a small section of it and well worth it to see the glacier at the top and more epic views. I wouldn't enjoy doing that section when it is muddy or wet.

Overall a really great day out in the mountains! We only came across two groups (one of 4 and one solo hiker) the entire day, it is a refreshing change from the bustle of the city. The ache in my quads are a good reminder of the effort put in :)

Native Plant Society botanizing hike revealed many interesting species (a full plant list is available from the NPS.org website. Steep trail with no places to camp until you get to the upper end of the trail. Huckleberries were beginning to ripen.