Goat Mountain — Monday, Oct. 13, 2025

The sun was shining today and despite only being mid-October, it felt like early winter on the trail! We encountered snow just before breaking out of the forest. While much of it was passable, certain wind-drifted areas higher on the mountain had deeper collections. Eventually we got tired of post-holing and turned around. I'm not convinced microspikes would have helped, as the snowpack thus far consists of a relatively thin, soft wind slab overtop a squirrely loose layer. Gaiters and trekking poles, however, are a good move.