Goat Rocks Loop — Monday, Sep. 6, 2004

I made my first visit to the Goat Rocks over the Labor Day weekend. Gary, Mark, and I spent 4 days making an improvised loop. We started near the Lily Basin trailhead just outside of Packwood. From the end of a logging road we bushwhacked 4 miles losing 1700' to the Packwood Lake Trail. We then hiked up to Lost Lake for our first evening. On day two we traversed Coyote Ridge to Elk Pass. The ridge starts in forest and later goes through heather and rock meadows. It drops to forested Packwood Saddle then climbs to Elk Pass on the crest of the Cascade Mountains. Day three we followed the narrow Crest Trail south then took the old Cascade Crest Trail to a shoulder of Old Snowy at 7600'. From there it is an easy scramble to the summit at just over 7900'. Rather than following the trail to Snowgrass Flats, we took a short cut along a ridge and soon reached Goat Lake. From there the Lily Basin Trail wound higher to a shoulder. Here we took a side trail to the summit of Hawkeye Point. Great views from the top. After dropping to the trail we contoured around towards Heart Lake. Before the lake we saw the largest herd of goats I have ever seen. We counted 31. We saw goats every day. We lost count but we saw over 80, some more than once. We found a great camp high above Heart Lake near a creek. That creek, like most, was still lined with wildflowers. It was surprising for September. The next morning we scrambled up Johnson Peak to see more goats and terrific views. We saw six volcanos from the summit. That was a first for me. Back at camp we packed up and headed out. The Lily Basin Trail has great views for miles. The totals for the trip were 34 miles with 10,000' gained. I have posted 57 photos at: http://www.hikingnorthwest.com. Go to ""Trips-2004"" on the left margin.