Goat Mountain — Friday, Aug. 11, 2000

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

We arrived to the trailhead just before 10... 3 hours later than our ususal hikes. Even still, we were the first ones up. I had worn long pants and a long-sleeved shirt despite the warm temperatures because of all the ""bad bugs"" reports all over the North Cascades. I'm glad I did, but not because of the bugs... the bugs were not a problem at all (even on the way down)... but because it was quite cold and windy along the ridge where we finally stopped for the day. Also, I was happy for the coverage because much of the middle third of the trail is very over-grown, some places worse than others, and with the morning dew it was also very wet. The views of Baker, Shuksan, and Sefrit were amazing. From the top, Sefrit was the only one that was cloud-free. The summits of Baker and Shuksan were topped with whipped cream for the hour we waited. It wasn't until we made our way down (and got under the clouds) that we had a clear view of Baker... Shuksan continued to hide. Oh, well... Oh, oh, oh... this trail has BERRIES! Well, maybe it had berries... ... we ate quite a few ripe salmonberries (we did leave some, and they will continue to ripen for the next couple of weeks). The blueberries were just starting to ripen and should really be plentiful in another month or so. The wildflowers were in full bloom and created a colorful mosaic of the alpine meadows. On the way back down, we ran into a Forest Service crew that was doing some trail work... putting in a puncheon... the previously existing one was very destroyed and sprawled out 5-15 feet downhill. Thank you USFS. :) All in all it was a hike I would highly recommend... 2.5 hrs up (3.5 miles/3000 ft), 1 hr lunch, 1.5 hrs down. (and we stopped a LOT for berries and pictures). Plus, there weren't a lot of people, I think we only passed about 5 groups coming up on our way down. Yay, North Cascades!