Snowgrass Flat, Goat Ridge & Heart Lake via Lily Basin Trail — Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014

South Cascades > Goat Rocks

My two grown sons and I started out at the Berrypatch and headed counter clockwise on a "Goat Lake loop". It was very hot and dry but the trail was in great condition, the bugs were tolerable and the scenery was fantastic. We spent our first night at the Alpine Camp just below Snowgrass flats. The second day we jumped on the Lily Basin trail and headed for Goat Lake. The lake is still almost entirely covered in ice and snow. Only the south end has any open water. We perused the cliffs with binoculars for an hour and saw NO goats. It reminded us of the classic line from Jurassic Park, "Now you do eventually plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour?" Hopefully at some point Goat Lake will actually have goats in the vicinity! We had lunch at Goat Lake and then headed south west to Goat Ridge. We spent the night on the ridge and then headed back to the Berrypatch the following day. Wildflowers were everywhere. The air was fresh and clean (No smoke in the air at this point). There were a number of hikers making this loop. This is one of the most scenic trips we have ever taken. After hiking the PCT from Walupt Lake to White Pass last summer, it was fun to step back and examine the Goat Rocks from a different vantage point. This is a 14-mile loop and one that any hiker could endure regardless of experience. There are numerous camping sites and plenty of fresh water all along the trip.