Goat Creek, Cathedral Falls — Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023

Went up the Goat Creek trial to Cathedral Falls (1 mile in) and beyond.  This hike is southeast of Morton and north of Mt. St. Helens; the road was in fairly good condition with intermittent mud and potholes (no snow).  Beware of going up there after a windstorm because it looks like a lot of smaller trees had fallen over the road earlier this winter, but someone had come along and cut them all out - thanks!

There was only one other group out there the whole time.  The trail was quite beautiful and in good condition.  We hiked just over 2 miles up the trail to just past the split with Tumwater Mountain trail.  There was very little snow before the turnoff and then fairly consistent snow beyond.  There are many little streams and waterfalls along this trail and the forest appears to be old growth but the trees are generally not as large as you would find in the temperate rainforest of the Olympics or at the foot of the Cascades.

There are a lot of moss covered rocks and trees so this was a very green hike.  The trail has little gains in elevations the first two miles but no steep slopes or big steps.  The trail follows along the hillside above Goat Creek (it is sometimes in sight but always within hearing range).  I would highly recommend this hike during winter or spring months as it will be greenest with fully running waterfalls.  I imagine it might be a little underwhelming in the late summer and fall.

Word of warning:   If you want to continue (in the snow) past the split and up the Tumwater Mountain Trail you will have to cross the creek on slippery rocks or logs as the there is no intact footbridge.  Beyond the split in the trail you will probably need snow snowshoes sometime in the next 1/2 half mile as the snow appears to get deeper and softer as you go up.  As of now I do not think microspikes are of use before or after the snow.