Goat Ridge, Snowgrass Flat, Sheep Lake, Klickitat Trail, Walupt Lake and Walupt Creek & Heart Lake via Lily Basin Trail — Thursday, Jun. 25, 2015

South Cascades > Goat Rocks

Parking at the Snowgrass trailhead, I did a 30 mile 4-day, 3-night loop. Everything was completely snow-free. Goat Ridge Trail to Goat Lake was strenuous but worth it. Goat Lake was 90% thawed, with just a bit of ice at the north end. Continuing from Goat Lake on Lily Basin Trail 86, I camped the first night just north of Alpine Camp with a beautiful view of Mount Adams. Day 2 I followed Snowgrass trail 96 east to the PCT, and then headed south through Cispus Pass. The wildflowers were amazing. I Camped the second night at Sheep Lake on the small knoll directly east of the lake with another view of Mount Adams. Day 3 I continued south on the PCT to Walupt Lake Trail 101, and then west to Walupt Lake. Spent the night at the Walupt Lake Campground, which in hindsight was a mistake (too many RV's with generators to power their microwaves and TV's, and someone stole my can of Hopworks IPA that I stashed in the creek under the bridge to chill). Day 4 I hiked from Walupt Lake west to Coleman Weedpatch trailhead, and then turned north on the Klickitat Loop 7A trail. The 7A trail required a bit more route finding than I expected. I had to take off my boots and ford the Cispus River (it was about thigh deep and 20 feet wide - which is probably low due to the low snow year). Then the trail was a bit difficult to find when it crossed various old logging roads on the way back towards Snowgrass trailhead. But in hindsight, I probably could have done some better research online to prepare myself for it. In summary, a great backpacking trip with beautiful views. Well worth it.