I had been eager to see this place due to accounts I have read here and NFS so naturally the day I hiked it was fog bound-I couldn't see a thing until about 12:30 or 1, but when it cleared up I got the idea. Hiked to Heart Lake, dried out and ate a hot meal, then finally on the way back, the fog lifted and WOW! There's one tricky stream crossing where the trail crosses the upper basin, other than that the trail's in good shape. Lots of berries along the trail and at the trailhead.

Trail #86 to Heart lake was a great hike! The wildflowers were in full bloom. Huckleberries ripe at about 2 miles in.The trail was good until Lily basin then the melting snows above made the trail wet/muddy in places. Only one snow spot that was fine to cross going in and bad on the return so we had to go down in the gully! The spot may be melted by the next weekend. The Mt. goat herd was cruising around the peaks of Goat Rocks. We saw several groups of hikers which was fine because there was plenty of room for everyone! Cold at night.

A 3 day trip through Goat Rocks Wilderness was superb. We started from a parking lot jam packed with cars and headed up Goat Ridge, taking the 95-A Branch to the lookout with explosive views from Tahoma to Adams. Met back up with the ridge trail and continued blissfully through meadow and open forest up to Lily Basin. This trail gets more and more exciting as you go. Wow! High on a ""shelf"" off the trail to the top of Hawkeye Point, we camped with astounding views of Adams, St. Helens, and the up close and personal Goat Rocks dominating the sky to the east. The sun went down and it became cold and windy (approx. 7100 ft.). We could see several campfires across the valley on the side of Goat Rocks at elevations between 5000-7000ft. Where do these people keep finding wood, or do they strap duraflame logs to their packs' Woke up to a beautiful and chilly morning and continued along the very well maintained 95 to Snowgrass Flat, crossing numerous small snow fields (ice axe not required,but helpful), and across a large area of snow past still completely frozen Goat Lake. What a site in September! descended into stunning alpine gardens around Snowgrass Flat and cut up to the Crest Trail, ascending past tree line again to a another ""shelf"" (over 7000') on the base of the mighty goat rocks with Old Snowy and Ives Peak looming above. As we camped with plans to climb Old Snowy the next morning, the weather became hostile. That night we experienced gale force winds and sleet and woke up to an ice covered tent and very low visibility. Another reminder of how fast weather can change in the mountains and how important it is to be well prepared (any time at these elevations.) Pretty crowded up here, but plenty of space for everyone. It is however a good thing that a permit system is being implemented in 2000 for the Goat Rocks to assure future protection for this magical place.

The South Cascades - I started at Snowgrass trailhead on Sunday and made camp just below the junction with PCT. This was a really rare event for me to be able to take a trip during the week. If i can find someone to pay my bills and feed the cats I'll do it often! On Monday I took PCT to Coyote Ridge then doubled back and hiked to the summit of Old Snowy Mountain. Saw much new snow left over from the previous weeks weather system. The new snow was spotty however and other than the section of PCT over Packwood Glacier and just below the summit of Old Snowy no moves were necessary. Saw two people, three deer, several Marmots but no Goats. Incredible nighttime sky. Just perfect. On Tuesday I moved camp to Goat Lake, which is still half frozen. Trail 86 was still a tapestry of wildflowers all the way to Goat lake. Fall colors are starting to show but the Wildflowers are still in control here. Trail was in great shape and the damage from horses, and hikers, was negligable. ANother night of shooting stars and Astronimal delight! Trail #95 was in good shape. A few trees had blown down and gave me an excuse to rest my legs and test out the saw. Many berries too! Did I mention the berries at Snowgrass' I believe I left maybe nine uneaten. Trail 95 still has some jumbo blueberries up top and lots o' Hucks near berry patch at trails end. This is a magnificent loop. Total gain with Old Snowy was 5580' Old Snowy counted for about 800 of that and may or may not be summitable depending on what the weather brings in the next few weeks. I'll bet you can do the loop from 96/86 and return on 95 for a couple more weeks though.

My friends Joan, Diane, Connie and I decided to check out Lily Basin. The road in is fairly easy to find, but you need 4 wheel drive to get over one section. We started with some steady climbing through forest, with lots of ripe huckleberries all around. We caught glimpses of Packwood Lake, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, then finally crossed over into Lily Basin after about 4 miles. What a spectacular view! As we hiked along the cirque above the basin, many of the wildflowers were just past their prime, but around the many side streams, the flowers were perfect. We saw paintbrush of such varied colors, everything from orange to brilliant red to a magenta! The lupine of course were everwhere, and the yarrow, groundsel, penstemon, pearly everlasting, and aster were quite impressive. We spotted 6 goat, and we climbed to the junction with Angry Man trail, and got a great view of Mt. Rainier, St. Helens, Adams and other sections of the Goat Rocks. Round trip was about 13 miles, not too much for a nice dayhike.

We hiked the Snowgrass Flat - Goat Ridge Loop, 13 miles. The access road in from Packwood is in fair shape; has washboard surface in places. Trail #96, #86 and #95 are in great shape. There was still some snow covering the trail up at Goat Lake, but easy to get through. Goat Lake is still mostly covered with snow & ice, but is starting to melt out. The scenery is outstanding!