Just Me and My Backpack - Goat Rocks Wilderness, 9.3.19 - 9.5.19, Part 2 of 3
My original plan was to stay for three nights. I was going to stay in the same camp site for a second night and spend Day Two day hiking back down the PCT to Cispus Basin which is supposed to be the most beautiful basin in the Goat Rocks. However, before leaving on my trip I had been watching the forecast deteriorate and it called for the weather to get blustery by Thursday night with possible rain Thursday night and Friday. As a result, that first night I decided to scrap my three night plan and only spend one more night in the Goat Rocks before packing out and heading home.
Instead of day hiking to Cispus Basin, my new plan was to break camp and pack over to Goat Lake for my final night which is also on the way back to the car on my counter-clockwise loop. After a peaceful quiet night in my high perch view camp, I awoke on the second day to crystal clear skies. All the mountains were bathed in glorious morning sunshine with the valleys all filled with morning fog that burned off soon after the sun came up. Mount Adams in particular looked really cool with the Lyman Glacier all lit up. Mount St. Helens was also much clearer than the previous day.
Mount Adams
Mount St. Helens
Since it was only about four and a half miles to Goat Lake I was in no big hurry to get out of camp. I had a leisurely breakfast of banana nut oatmeal and hot chocolate before slowly breaking camp. I dropped off of the high bench and headed back down the PCT. The meadows were just a joy to hike through.
Mount Adams and the PCT from my first camp site
Western Anemone and the Goat Rocks Crest.
I followed the PCT back to the junction with the Snowgrass Trail and took that back down to the junction with the Lily Basin Trail which in turn would take me to Goat Lake. The hike from here to Goat lake was incredibly scenic. It meandered up and down through huge meadows with little creeks flowing through them. All the while I could see the cirque of Goat Lake in the distance.
Meadows on the Lily Basin Trail to Goat Lake
After wandering through several beautiful meadows the trail began to climb in a gentle rising traverse towards Goat Lake.
Mount Adams and the Goat Creek valley
When I arrived at Goat Lake I saw a great camp spot right on the edge of a high cliff, with trees for shade and big rocks to sit on that looked down the valley towards Mount Adams. The entire Goat Rocks Crest was just to my left and the lake and the cirque were right behind my camp. I was actually camped right where the outlet stream from the lake came through a rocky gorge and spilled over a huge cliff to the valley.
Similar to the previous day, after setting up my camp I still had tons of daylight left so I went for another hike with my day pack. This time my objective was the highest point above Goat Lake called Hawkeye Point.
Goat Lake. Hawkeye Point is the biggest point on the left.
The way to Hawkeye Point started out by climbing high above the lake. Several amazing camps were on the edge of little knolls that looked out over Goat Creek valley. Along the way I ran into a woman and her dog who tagged along with me to the summit. Speaking of which, I think I may have seen more women than men on this trip and in general I have definitely seen a huge uptick in the number of women out on the trail over the past couple of years.
Looking across Goat Creek valley to the Goat Rocks Crest
The trail traversed along the shoulder of Hawkeye Point to a pass and a junction to the Goat Ridge Trail which is what I planned to take for the hike back to the car the next day. Staying on the Lily Basin Trail, we seemed to lose any other people as it continued to climb fairly steeply toward a ridge top. We passed some really nice volcanic plugs and the views just kept getting better and better until we hit the ridge top.
Volcanic plugs and Mount St. Helens
When we hit the ridge and looked over the other side, Mount Rainier dominated our vision. Being the true monarch of the Cascades, Mount Rainier is just so much bigger than all the other volcanoes and it never fails to take my breath away.
First view of Mount Rainier from the ridge below Hawkeye Point.
From the ridge we followed a rough route around a minor summit and then traversed over to Hawkeye Point. Looking up at the summit, a lone mountain goat stood atop the point looking down at us. I figured since the woman had her dog with her that the goat would leave anyway and sure enough, before we reached the summit the goat was gone.
Final route to Hawkeye Point
The view from the top was incredible. We could see four volcanoes - Adams, St. Helens, Rainier and Hood. Directly below was Goat Lake and across the lake was the Goat Rocks Crest.
Summit view
Old Snowy. The trail works up the left side to the ridge and then followed the ridge to the summit block.
Mount Rainier
Rising to new heights!
Part 3 finishes the trip.