Snowgrass Flat, Goat Lake — Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022

Went backpacking to Snowgrass Flat with my 12-yearo-old son, as it is now a summer tradition for us. Got to the TH around 10am, just a few cars (including a nice Rivian pickup) as expected for a Thursday. The hike up was uneventful, with lots of parties coming down and no one behind us. When we arrived at Snowgrass there was not a single person in sight and we had our pick of campsite. Enjoyed the solitude most of the afternoon and then went to filter some water at a stream about 2 minutes East from the meadow. Our water filter, a Katadyn BeFree 3L, was somehow clogged and we struggled to get any water out of it for about 20 mins. We decided to head back to the trail intersection to see if someone was around that could help, otherwise we would have to pack up and leave. We ran into a party of 4 hikers, who had just passed the intersection. As we caught the attention of the last hiker, I explained the situation. She yelled at the other 3 hikers and told them what was happening and that they would have to backtrack about 2 minutes to the stream to help us out. To my complete dismay, they refused to help us and said sorry and went on their way (as a hiker and backpacker I find this to be absolutely unethical!). As a last resort we went down the Lily Basin trail to see if someone was camped there. A party of 3 had set up camp and lent us a filter (THANK YOU, you saved our trip!), which we used to fill every container we had. At the very least we could stay the night and have some food. On the positive I nursed our failed filter down to a trickle which we used to refill water bottles for the rest of the trip.

During our mid day we hiked up to Goat Lake which is still mostly frozen, but the trail is basically snow free up to the very end. There are some snow bridges with thunderous water running under, be careful! We didn't cross them and stayed on one side. Back at Snowgrass on a Friday afternoon now every camping spot seemed to be taken. Happy to see families with kids and teenagers, and everyone was really quiet.

Hike out on Saturday, we got an early start expecting a much hotter day. Passed over 10 parties of backpackers going up (not sure where they were going to camp, but it must have been busy up there). Back at the TH around 10:30am.

Overall a great trip despite the filter trouble and an amazing bonding time with my kid.