My partner and I did a one-night backpack (13 miles roundtrip), to the crossing of the Clear Fork of the Cowlitz River in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Not your typical Goat Rocks outing, however, as this valley portion never exceeds 3600 feet in elevation, and is completely blanketed by old growth forest throughout. The montane woods of hemlock, cedar, Douglas-fir, and noble fir are lovely though, and even downright eerie in places. A great place to encounter a sasquatch if a person were lucky enough to see one. The first two miles from the trailhead to the junction with the Clear Lost trail are generally in good condition and are passed quickly. Beware of mosquitoes around Lily Lake, however, and be prepared to either jog through this area or bathe in insect repellant beforehand. Thankfully, all other parts of the trip had far fewer bugs. At Skeeter Shelter and the trail junction at two miles, we accidentally made a left and were briefly headed toward Highway 12 on the Clear Lost Trail. Luckily, we had only gone about one-quarter mile before realizing our mistake. The signs at the junction are clearly marked, but for some reason we weren't paying enough attention. Our intended route on the Clear Fork trail proceeds directly by the shelter and immediately crosses a stream. Past this point, the Clear Fork trail, at least right now, assumes a distinctive wilderness edge. Significant numbers of trees, some of them quite large, have fallen across the trail, making the 4.5 miles from the shelter to the river crossing feel more like six. Many of the trees are easily crossed over or ducked under, but some would qualify as moderately difficult to bypass (particularly those with five or six big ones in a horizontal stack). Another obstacle is the crossing of Coyote Creek, about four miles in. The creek has obviously flooded and rampaged through the area in the recent past, devastating several acres of forest. Although the route through this zone is fairly easily discerned, we were forced to don sandles and ford the creek, as there were no nearby log jams to hop over it. The water level in spots was knee-high, but isn't necessarily dangerous, and should get easier as summer continues. A little over a mile past Coyote Creek is the crossing of Chimney Creek, with a slightly lesser flow of water. A number of fallen tree options are available for crossing this one without having to wade. Finally arriving at the trail's crossing of the Clear Fork, we pitched our tent nearby another party at Camp Hagon, with the whistles of varied thrushes lulling us into evening contentment. One could continue on to Tieton Pass beyond where we camped. In order to do so, the Clear Fork must be forded, or a log spanning the channel to the left of the trail could be balanced or scooted across. Two young bucks with emerging antlers were passed on the way back the following day, but the wildlife highlight were the two coyotes that surprised us on the trail, perhaps only 25 meters away. I've seen several coyotes over the years, but rarely this close. They were beautiful -- big, with impressively bushy tails. Upon realizing what we were, they took off through the forest at lightning speed, hardly making a sound as they ran.