This thru hike starts at the Lily Basin trailhead (to Heart Lake) and ends at White Pass. A car shuttle, 35 mile stretch that combined Lily Basin trail to the PCT in the Goat Rock Wilderness.
What a trip. Having the ability to spend a majority of the miles in the alpine, wildflower zone was such a rare treat for a 4 day trip. The elevation added up over time but never felt like a complete slug. Highly recommend for intermediate, experienced backpackers looking to see some of the best of what the Northwest has to offer.
Key concern: Forest Road 48 is easy to miss off Highway 12 (especially if you're using a flawed Google Map directions). After zig zagging up the road, just 4-5 miles from the trailhead there is a highly eroded stretch that is close to impassable without high clearance vehicle, confidence in driving steep uphill through a ditch and likely needing to fill in the ditch with large rocks to ensure your left tire can get traction without bottoming out. After 4 attempts, we were able to get our car past this issue. We felt hard right side of the road was the best approach. Several cars were parked as the drivers didn't want to risk it. This left just a handful of cars (4 perhaps?) that actually made it to the trailhead proper. Thinning the crowds on this already uncrowded slice of the Goat Rocks.
Lily Basin trailhead to Heart Lake is a slow, climb up with wildflowers increasing in abundance to get you more and more excited. There's a nice campground at Glacier Creek and another at a saddle just before Angry Mountain Trailhead. Nothing else until Heart Lake. With foggy weather and a late start, we camped just prior to Angry Mnt TH.
Day 2: Heart Lake to PCT junction. Second day of fog and light drizzle. The slow climb from Heart Lake to the Lily Basin proper (Goat Lake) was steady up to Hawkins trail. There were moments the clouds parted revealing intense, lush green mountains on Goat Ridge in the distance. There was a stellar, stellar campground at the basin prior to the Hawkins mnt saddle. A spot that made me contemplate a return visit just for that campground. Over the Hawkins saddle and through Jordan basin, we entered the 'times square' of the Goat Rocks - the classic loop that half of Seattle and Portland overruns each August weekend. We were grateful we had some solitude before heading into Goat Lake where we saw heavy trail impact and a passing backpacker citing there were 50 or so groups camping around goat lake that Saturday night. There's reason for this area being loved to death - social media FOMO pics, perfectly positioned between Seattle/Portland, fire impact and smoke leaving this area still in the clear and convenience of a perfect weekend loop. We pushed through, as the fog cleared, down to Alpine camp and then a quick uphill near the PCT junction. We camped at the last forested area before the PCT meadows opened. Nice creek and established spot just off the trail. No bugs due to upper 30's temps.
Day 3: to small lake 1.8 miles from Hidden Springs. This day was our highlight. The fog finally cleared revealing much of what we hiked through on Day 2 as we climbed up to Mt. Snowy. The meadows, the views, the sheets of broken rock..up to the remnants of small snow field that kicked off the Knife section. Hiking across the Knife was the highlight for those on the trip. It held moments of anxiety (a hiker yesterday told us he was almost hit by a boulder sliding down) and quiet serenity from the views and nominal hiker traffic. A PCTer' named Big Bird stopped to have a chat with us, so inspiring to listen to her story and ambition to just quit her job and tackle the trip solo. Her yellow and blue fleece and trail shoes were shredded from the trip. At Elk Pass, take those last pics of the backside of the Goat Rock mnt ridge before heading down a basin away tucked below the peaks. Before a quick climb to the top of McCall basin, stop at the gorgeous creek for some of the finest water you'll ever drink. Looking at the source just 100 yards uphill, it's a special spot to recharge. Hiking the PCT down past McCall basin and into the forest expect to fly through the miles. We covered about 12-13 miles that day and camped at a little clearing by a pseudo lake or swamp. About 1.6 miles north of Teiton Pass. With cold temps, the mosquitoes continued to stay dormant.
Day 4: to White pass. A nice, steady climb to Shoe Lake trailhead. Last look back at the Goat Rocks was rewarding to see how far we traveled. At a switchback, there's a faint sign designating the trail to Shoe Lake. It's super easy to miss that trail sign. If you miss it, water from the PCT was few and far between from the lake and White Pass. We zipped over to the shore of Shoe Lake, loaded up and enjoyed the tranquil scene. Beautiful sunny Tuesday with nobody else at the lake. Nice to see it protected and respected from camping. Watered up, we zig zagged back up to where we rejoined the PCT and lugged over the saddle, along Hogback mountain and a steady downhill to White Pass. There were quite a few camping spots in that Hogback basin with some water sources visible. Otherwise, it was a dusty trek along the ski area. Seeing those fresh and clean backpackers hiking opposite to us, I was so happy for them. They were about to pass the incredible scenery we just enjoyed. Quite a few section hikers (to Columbia River) and Goat Rock section hikers (White Pass to Walupt lake). Overall, planning our shuttle stretch offered a mix of solitude, the classic stretches and some wonderful variety on this idyllic stretch of the PCT. Great experience.
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