Beautiful hike on a perfect day. Everyone found a place to park. We saw a mountain goat who looked very healthy. These mountain goats may be animals and/or descendants of animals that were airlifted in 2019 from Olympic National Park to North Cascades National Park in an attempt to boost the goat population. A lot of them died but some must have lived and reproduced. If you have a chance Google the story.
Trip Report
Cascade Pass — Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2025
North Cascades > North Cascades Highway - Hwy 20
Type of Hike
Day hikeTrail Conditions
Trail in good conditionRoad
Road suitable for all vehiclesBugs
Bugs were not too badSnow
Snow free
Comments
Foist on Cascade Pass
That would be cute, but there have always been tons of goats around cascade pass amd, especially, up around Sahale Glacier camp.
Posted by:
Foist on Jul 24, 2025 07:54 AM
kascadia on Cascade Pass
The goats were moved to the Cascades (not just the N. Cascades) because they are native to the area. They were introduced to the Olympic Peninsula/range and have wreaked havoc on the native ecosystems there. In addition, the Olympics do not have the exposed mineral deposits that are found in the Cascades, which resulted in the goats aggressively pursuing hikers for minerals contained in urine. Unfortunately, most goats did not survive the transfer.
Posted by:
kascadia on Jul 24, 2025 10:34 AM
Foist on Cascade Pass
Yes I'm aware of the silly goat transport boondoggle. I was camping in Royal Basin a few years ago when the helicopters were buzzing us all weekend looking for goats to drug. I'm just saying there is no reason to think these are the SAME goats, because Cascade Pass / Sahale Arm has always been mobbed with goats.
Posted by:
Foist on Jul 24, 2025 11:11 AM