My son-in-law and I just returned from a three-day trip to Goat Rocks. Day 1 started at the Scatter Creek trailhead where we started hiking at 12:25 pm. The first 2.5 miles, we passed through a heavily burned yet interesting area with filtered views of Tieton Peak and first peeks at the ridgeline on the fringes of Goat Rocks Wilderness. Once past the burn, the rest of the way to Tieton Pass is in shady but open forest. We counted at least four perennial water sources and five or six seasonal creeks along this section of the trail.

After hiking 4.8 miles and climbing 2273', we arrived at Tieton Pass with the intention of camping at the campsite just south of the junction of the Pacific Crest Trail. However, we found the sites were occupied, so we hiked another mile south on the PCT to Lutz Lake and found a good campsite that was empty. Typical for this time of season, it was swarming with mosquitoes. We armed ourselves for battle, applying Deet and building a smokey fire. Then we pitched our tents, made dinner, and waited for the evening breeze to cool things down and put a lid on the bugs. Filling our water bottles at Lutz Lake was difficult because it's so shallow. However, we found a much better place in a meadow just to the northwest. There's a small stream on the far side of the meadow where ice cold water pours over a log dam, making it much easier to fill a water bottle.

On day 2, we left our tents standing with the intention of returning for the night. Trading our big packs for daypacks, we hiked south on the PCT through cool forest towards Elk Pass. At about 2.5 miles, we climbed above treeline where a feast of mountain gorgeousness greeted our eyes. At around 6400' we approached large snowfields on the north-facing slope below Elk Pass. There are numerous water sources cascading down the mountain in this area, some which cross the trail and make refills easy. Snow crossings were not hard. We carried microspikes but they stayed in our packs. Once we gained the ridgeline on the north side of Elk Pass, we were again walking on dry ground. The final stretch to Elk Pass was a pleasant stroll, with stops every 100 yards to snap photos. Not quite having our fill of hiking in such scenery, we continued south past Elk Pass about 1/4 mile to the top of a 6900' unnamed peak where we broke for lunch and tried our best to soak in the grandeur. Old Snowy in particular commanded our attention. We spotted two hikers making their way down towards us, crossing snowfields and bare ground. We waited for about 30 minutes till they arrived at our location and asked how their hike went. They talked about the exhilaration of passing through such glorious terrain and having no trouble with the snow. I could feel the tug of the mere two mile trek to Old Snowy but it would have to wait for another day. We returned to our camp at Lutz Lake with just enough energy to break camp and move down to Tieton Pass for the night. Though it too was buggy, it was drier and windier and not nearly as bad as Lutz Lake.

Early on day 3 while still in our tents, clouds moved in and we had a few sprinkles of rain. By the time we rose and exited our tents, it had stopped and skies were clearing. We ate breakfast, then hoisted daypacks and headed north towards Shoe Lake. The first two miles were in forest on an easy uphill grade. There are numerous seasonal stream that cross the trail in this section. Then the trail became a bit steeper and we came to a burn area which continued till we were past the junction to Hidden Springs. The burn ends but the climbing continues all the way to the first (south) junction to Shoe Lake. Another half mile of climbing brings you past meadows to the solitary jewel of Shoe Lake with its clear blue waters. Because camping is prohibited here, it seems untouched, unspoiled by humans. Wonderful nooks are scattered around the lake, some with beaches, some with groves of trees, offering good places to stop and enjoy the stunning scenery. This place rivaled Elk Pass in the degree of difficulty it was to leave.

It would be a long day 3, retracing our steps to Tieton Pass to fetch our overnight packs and make the long trek down to our vehicles at the trailhead. Cumulative distance for three days was 28 1/4 miles, elevation gain 6511'.

Day-hiked from the Scatter Creek trailhead to Tieton Pass and then up to Elk Pass and the PCT near Old Snowy. Elk Pass is magical, but takes a bit to get there. 20 miles and 4700 ft elevation round-trip on the day.

Easy gravel road (5 miles) to the trailhead. I was the only vehicle there and didn't see anyone else on the trail all day. North Fork Tieton Trail 1118 burned in the Miriam Fire in 2018 but has had some recent maintenance to clear deadfall and build a new bridge at one of the creek crossings. I did this same hike in July this year and the trail is in better shape now than then. The first couple miles are fire-scarred though with new deadfall waiting to tumble soon I'm sure.

The North Fork Tieton Trail connects to the PCT at Tieton Pass, roughly five miles in and then a couple more miles on the PCT finally takes you out of the tree line (so plan on 7-8 miles in the trees before any substantial views start). I hit patchy snow at 5300' and a short stretch of steady snow on the trail at 5600' that had me post-holing to my shins sporadically. No other recent boot prints in the snow.

Once above the tree line I scrambled cross-country directly up to Elk Pass on a mixture of rock and ice/snow. Rainier dominates, but there are also beautiful views into McCall Basin and the surrounding Goat Rocks Peaks. Also St Helens and Adams if you continue on. You could also get to Elk Pass by continuing to follow the PCT looping around to the north - I took this PCT route on the way back down though and it was very, very icy anywhere in the shade, often with injury-tempting runouts below. Ice axe and foot traction essential. In hindsight, I would've scrambled back down the way I came.

The PCT near Elk Pass is mostly melted out still, and a fun ridge run, until just below Point 7210 where a stretch of thicker ice over the trail turned me around for the day. There was also a little rock fall actively kicking loose in the afternoon sun above the trail here.

So a great hike right now if you're tolerant of a bunch of forest miles and are comfortable scrambling on snow/ice to earn your views.

Hiked one way (down) from Tieton Pass to end a multi-day backpacking trip to Goat Rocks (which is highly recommended). Trail is well worn by mules and horses that come that way. All is under cover, but the lower half of the trail goes through last year’s burn zone so it’s lighter, unusual and quite beautiful, and quite a contrast from the well grown over top half.

Note that the road to the Scatter Creek / North Fork Tieton Trailhead has been fully repaired and road is in great condition. We had camped at Lutz Lake Camp about a mile south of Tieton Pass on the PCT and hiked to Old Snowy as a day trip from that camp - which was magnificent. Left one car at the Scatter Creek TH (at the end of this trail) and one car at White Pass, where we began. While not the highlight of the weekend (the Knife Edge is a pretty high bar) getting out via this trail was a painless and pleasant way to conclude a terrific weekend.

Many of the trails on the east side of the goat rocks are closed after last years fire along the North fork of the Tieton River. The road to Scatter Creek campground is once again barricaded 3.5 miles before the North Fork Tieton trail-head. There will probably be plenty of work needed repairing collapsed and eroded tread once the burned trees have come down.

<3 the Goat Rocks Wilderness!

When I was thinking of how to write this trip report, I wanted to call it a waste of time and leave it at that. Then I realized it was actually a pretty great scouting trip for the maintenance these trails need. They're rough. Even the PCT needs some TLC in this section.

I put together this loop because I assumed Tieton Pass was a destination where you could eat lunch and enjoy expansive views of the Goat Rocks after a challenging uphill battle of the sort some hikers relish. Then you could enjoy a moderate 5-mile descent, creek-hopping and shaded by big trees.

The only thing that’s correct about the above assumption is that there's a challenging uphill battle that only some sorts of hikers relish. And that uphill battle is the Hidden Springs trail.

Hidden Springs is a beast. It’s murderous. It’s awful. It’s puninshingly steep. But, of course, it’s not quite hard enough to follow to discourage me completely. It’s 1.7 miles from the turnoff with the North Fork Tieton Trail. I think it’s the longest, steepest trail I’ve ever hiked. With a lot of false summits. Three times I figured I’d finally gotten to the top, and three times I was wrong. Three times I plateaued, praying it was the camp only to have the trail say “nah” and kick me straight back uphill.

There are also these delightful sections where trees that have snapped in storms are balanced delicately on their trunks, leaning against other trees. One was particularly creepy: it seemed to be balanced on just a few fragments of tree trunk and I couldn’t see where it was leaning against the other tree (photo below). It looked like a strong wind could knock it down, and there was a medium breeze already blowing. I stood behind a large tree for a while, trying to decide if I could hike uphill fast enough to get out of there if it came down while I was passing. There is more than one situation like this on the way up Hidden Springs.

It was largely because I’d gotten through these sections unscathed that I decided I had to finish the loop, despite running behind schedule. Not only was I unsure my knees could take the grade going down Hidden Springs, but I was also freaked out about crossing back through those areas.

I made slow progress (really slow), but finally, I reached a point of the trail where there were some very nice views of the Goat Rocks. Unfortunately, by that point, I was too tired and anxious about running behind to stop and really enjoy them. Plus, you’re in a pretty dicey spot once you get to them. There, the trail is a steep, narrow, gravelly path, where the idea of falling is verboten – it’s not necessarily cliffy, but the terrain is so steep it would be a second until you stopped sliding. And then you’d have to get back up and climb what you just went up.

(related: on maps, the Hidden Springs trail is rated hiker/horse. I have no idea how it ever got rated for horses. It would be terrifying on horseback.)

Eventually I did get to Hidden Springs camp, and then the PCT. The PCT junction is nothing remarkable – just a crossroads in the forest. No views. Disappointed, but very, very hungry, I sat on a log and shoved a sandwich and apple in my mouth, calculating how far I had to go and how much daylight I had. I figured even if I hiked at a mile an hour the rest of the way I could still get to camp by 8pm. I didn’t anticipate taking that long, but it was good to know I’d probably still get to camp with some daylight, even with a slower than normal (for me) pace. 

The PCT through here is fine, but there’s lots of small blowdown, some areas that need tread improvement, including one area where a big tree has pulled the trail out. This is about two miles from the junction with the PCT, outside of Goat Rocks Wilderness areas. Plus, this section's completely unsigned, which I thought was weird. Usually there are little medallions along the PCT to ensure you you’re on the right track.

The highlight of this section was when I startled a big elk just before the North Fork Tieton junction. I was so surprised I said, “Uh...hi.” Such sparkling rhetoric. Luckily, he bolted into the woods. Good thing it’s spring and not the fall rut! But he was beautiful.

Arriving at the North Fork Tieton Pass, I was dejected to see it’s just a forested saddle where three trails meet. I had thought about going all the way to McCall Basin to add on a destination but it was 4pm by the time I got to the pass and I was bushed. I didn’t have the 5-mile roundtrip detour in me.

So I headed down North Fork Tieton and boy is it in terrible shape. The last three miles to the pass are in desperate need of rebenching. The slumping is terrible. I could see that a horse group had been up there before me, and I can’t imagine they had fun doing this on a horse. What trail there is really narrow and outsloped, and the trailbed is bad, too—totally uneven. There are also several large blowdowns. A couple of them looked like they’d been stepped over by the horses, but one, about 3.5 miles down the trail from the pass, was laying across the trail, about three feet up off the ground. I have no idea where the horses went around it.

Though not as long as Hidden Springs, the descent did take me longer than anticipated because of how rocky and uneven the tread is. No wonder the last trip reporter rolled his ankle here!

A final note: MANY trees on this route, particularly on the North Fork Tieton Trail, are carved with the letter "i". Once I noticed it, I couldn't help but be creeped out by it...what did it mean? The hills have "i"'s? 

tl;dr – this loop is super awesome if you love punishingly steep trails, limited views, spotty access to water, and trails in serious need of maintenance.