Goat Mountain — Sunday, Aug. 29, 2004

North Cascades > Mount Baker Area

Trail description in 100 Hikes NC is totally inadequate for this hike. It is by no means a 'miners trail' and it seems silly to have placed such emphasis on getting to the 'lookout point' when the views and experience are much better in the higher meadows and ridge (lookout point side trail is now deliberately hidden with deadfall). The trail is in fact a nicely graded and switchbacking forest trail for first 2.5 miles, reminescent of the Green Mtn trail's first mile, with very nice smooth tread mostly in forest duff. There is one bad section at about 3.5 immediately after first meadows seen, where the trail builders seem to have been overcome with some madness and routed the trail directly up an onconsolidated mud and boulder hillside. Thereafter the trail resumes some sanity although it gets steeper in sections as it first gains then travels the ridge. I got to about 5500 in the short amount of time I had for this hike and as near as I can tell the end of 'maintained' trail is not much farther. Other WTA reports inc. Mr. Kuresman's offer superior descriptions of what can be found beyond. Positives were a reasonable quick access to meadow country and outstanding views of Shuksan and Sefrit. Also, for those that are into it, this is a superb trail-running trail on the downhill, with few roots or rocks to trip up and relatively gentle footfalls on the duffy parts. One major negative was the amount of damage stock had done to this trail. They are allowed post Aug 1, but I cannot see how this is sustainable. It had rained 2 inches the previous day and over a foot that week according to the Mt Baker telemetry, so the tread was saturated and in prime condition to be destroyed by heavy hooves. And it was. Numerous punches thru the downhill side. The aforementioned steep sections churned into an unmanageable wallow. Up to 2 foot deep ankle twisters as gopher holes, filled in roots and other underminings were punched into mid trail and enlarged. This can't have been good for the animals and it is certainly no good for all following hikers. I'd estimate an easy person-day of work would be required to undo the damage that I am certain was committed by a single group of four horses earlier that day (we saw their trailer, and a group that had arrived before and left after had not seen any horses pass them). Recent K+MMM maintenance stakes indicated that someone had just completed a lot of maintenance to the trail probably within calendar year prior. Now someone gets to re-do maintenance. Horses most certainly have their place in the wild, but taking them on relatively narrow 1000+foot a mile mountain trails the day after a heavy rain is NOT that place.