Gobblers Knob — Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014

Mount Rainier Area > SW - Longmire/Paradise

The directions to the the trailhead and some of the trail description need to be changed. They are inaccurate and have been leading a lot of people astray. While a map is one of the ten essentials, many people neglect to get/bring them. Trust me, if you're trying to get up there based on the descriptions here, you are going to NEED that map both on the road and on the trail. Also of note is the alleged 1,100 foot elevation gain. The cumulative elevation gain is at least three times that amount and is a factor in time/food/water needs. The road is very poorly signed (just a small brown post with the number 59 on it tucked back in the trees on the forest road its self) and easy to miss. Forget any other road signage once you get up there. It's not going to happen. The mileages given in this description are off. It caused my party as well as several others parties we ran into difficulty in finding the trailhead. There is nothing marking the trailhead that you can see from the parking lot other than an empty post sitting in front of a nasty climb up a steep slope. Yep... That would be the trail. Once you are on the trail, you will see the registration kiosk to the left. From the road entering the parking area, the trailhead can be found all the way back and to the right. (yes, you have to climb “that”) The trail levels out a bit after that initial pitch, but is a fairly steady climb up to Lake Christine. The turnoff to Mt Beljica confused a lot of folks as well. Not only is it not a full 1.5 miles from the trailhead, but If you keep going straight which is the intuitive thing to do you actually leave the trail and head straight up to the summit of said mountain. You must take a hard right to stay on the Lake Christine/Puyallup trails. The only thing resembling a sign is a bit of log, on the ground which says “summit” the remnants of a faint arrow pointing straight up the trail may or may not be noticeable, if you even notice the log at all. This is where the trail description here on the WTA site is quite misleading. “staying mostly flat”? Not even close. This trail drops, drops and then drops some more. Based on the misleading trail description, we were certain for a time that we were going the wrong way, as we dropped to the bottom of the drainage. The turn off to Beljica meadows was slightly less confusing, but at least it was signed. This is where the trail becomes “mostly level”, but you will have another descent down to Goat Lake. Because what goes down, must come up, be sure to take a nice rest in the shade at Goat Lake because you are going to need it for the steady climb out of there. I have no idea where the author of the trail description got the idea that there was a faint trail leading to the right that takes you up to the knob. After you've crossed the park boundary, climbed a lot more and gotten to the top of the ridge, you can go off to the left and do a bit of rock scrambling, but that does not take you to Gobbler's Knob. Sadly, several people thought that was it and turned around at this point based on the trail description provided here. Take a break, enjoy the view, but keep going over to the other side of the ridge. Yes, the trail drops down the other side and it's counter intuitive, but the actual turn off to the trail to Gobblers Knob branches off to the left. It's .4 miles of steady, if not relentless climb, but you will be teased by, then rewarded with views of the mountain. The lookout is in a spectacular setting with amazing views (well, that's why they put lookouts where they did) and is well worth the extra climb to get there. My garmin showed 4,415 feet cumulative feet of climbing over the course of the entire trip, which my computer later corrected to just over 3,300, so don't expect an easy 1,000 feet on this one. It is one long slog back out of that Goat Lake basin. It's bug season at the park and even with 100% DEET (Mt Rainier during bug season requires the full nuclear option for me) I'm pretty chewed up. The lakes are peaceful and beautiful (fish were jumping at both and folks were catching trout at Goat Lake) the views amazing and the wildflower display is just starting to peak. The meadows were covered in Avalanche Lilies. The other flowers are closely on the heels just waiting to paint the hillsides in pinks, oranges, yellows and purples even more so than they already are. This is a short season area, and while the “spring” wildflowers are blooming, huckleberry bushes are setting ruit. Bring extra food, water and bug spray. Prepare for quite a bit of climbing and be rewarded with an amazing day in an amazing place.

More Information on this Trip Report

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/wildcelticrose/sets/72157646128657906/