GOAT ROCKS  (GOAT RIDGE TO NANNY RIDGE LOOP)

WHERE:    From Portland follow I5 North to Highway 12 East.  About two miles before Packwood go south on Forest Service Road 21.  Follow this road 15 miles to FSR 2150.  Follow 2150 (signs will refer to Snowgrass trail until it splits near the end with one sign directing you to BerryPatch Trailhead which is less than 1/2 mile from the Snowgrass turnoff.

THE TRAIL:   From the trailhead follow goat ridge from 4700 feet to 5600 feet over 4.5 miles.  This portion of the trail goes through forest of Silver Fir, Noble Fir, Yellow Cedar, Subalpine Fir and Mountain Hemlock with some Western White Pine intermixed.  There are many huckleberry bushes along this climb which means there is also a decent bear population as I saw some berry scat and many black bear foot prints.  About 1 mile into the hike I briefly saw a bear which scampered off.  The steepest parts of the hike are the first and last third of the trail.  Halfway up the trail you will begin to reach some open meadows before entering the upper Jordan creek valley with lots of wildflowers and Marmots which will give out a shrill whistle of warning to its family every so often.  The Marmot whose job it is to warn the others will stay on a rock which allows visibility for itself and observation for us intruders.  This valley is very open offering pleasant views downward toward the creeks drainage and up toward the steep rocky hillsides above.  As you approach the Lilly Basin trail junction you will begin to see the snowfields which feed Jordan creek.  These fields feed the several small streams which you will cross as you head up the valley.  At the Lilly Basin trail you will go right toward Goat Lake to continue on the loop.  First you may want to consider a nice side hike is about 3/4 of a mile long and 700 feet elevation gain to Hawkeye point:  To do this take a left at the Lilly Basin junction then follow a side trail on the right in about 1/3 of a mile.  The trail is a bit steep but short and offers magnificent down to Goat Lake which is like the water in a bowl of which you are on the rim.  There are also great views of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams and the major peaks of Goat Rocks wilderness.  Hawkeye point is over 7,400 feet in elevation.

Head back down to the Goat Ridge trail and follow a short ways to Goat Lake where you are likely to see Mountain Goat ... and a fair amount of people also (I guess word about the areas beauty and wildlife got around).  From the end of the Goat Ridge trail to my 1/2 hour siesta at Goat Lake I enocountered about 10 people on a Monday morning.  There were apparently 20 tents on Goat Lake (not a very large lake) over the weekend.  Everyone was very friendly though and had a deep appreciation for this wilderness.  At Goat Lake I saw a herd of Goats (about 12 in the herd) which apparently were heading over the lakes bowl from the Packwood Glacier area.  I apparently missed these goats from Hawkey point were I was actually looking for Mountain Goats.  During my siesta down by the lake I was just enjoying the view and realized I was staring at 10 goats without even knowing it.  They really have to move in order to be recognized (even without being to far away) otherwise the appear as snow patches or rocks.

Keep heading down the Lilly Basin trail toward snowgrass flats where there are blueberry bushes down low next to the trail with huckleberry bushes rising higher up also along the trail especially near more poorly drained damp areas.  There are many views of "Goat Rocks" to the east and Mt. Adams to the southwest.  There is also an unmarked side trail heading up to a view of Packwood Glacier and Old Snowy Mountain where the Pacific Crest Trail passes.  If you decide to take this trail use caution as the trail fades into very large rockpiles intermitantly where picking up the trail becomes very difficult:  Also be sure to stay on the trail when not on the rocks to prevent erosion.  Another caution is that rocky sections can be steep at points and rockslides can happen even when the rocks seems secure:  It is about a 500 foot elevation gain over an approximate length of 1/3 mile.  After reaching the view from the top, and seeing the pacific crest trail which I would eventually meet following Lilly Basin Trail, I thought I would try to take a shortcut.  The valley between was full of glacial snow so I tried to climb around the ridge to meet the PCT.  I could not tell if the steepness would drop around the ridge to know if I could reach trail safely without having to backtrack to the trail.  I chalked it up as an adventure and kept going.  The large lava rocks turned to plated shard, as I climbed up and south, which at one point began to slide under me and above me.  The pitch was very steep and the rocky "plates" where many layers thick and reading to slide upon each other downward.  Not only was I about to violate the "Leave No Trace" principal but I actually wondered as the rocks were sliding ... "Is this it" as all my blood rushed away from my face much like what would happen when snowboarding and hearing that infamous thump that says avalanche.  Fortunately I stayed steady and the rocks regained a static constituency as I steadily and horizontally moved my limbs, one leg and one arm at a time over. I decided to start my way back, downward, with gravity now helping to release the kinetic energy:  This is the disadvantage of creeping upward in an attempt to meet a junction that isn't even known to exist.  My backpack did not help matters on this precarious ground.  The scramble back to the viewpoint was very hairy having experienced the physical evidence of what can happen on these rocky slopes.  With every step rockslide possibilities where in my mind and if that happened there was now way out except several hundred feet down and rocks covering me.  I will make no bones about this ... I was very stupid to try this stunt having little experience on this type of terrain.

Back down at Lilly Basin trail you can keep traveling to trail 96 near Snowgrass Flats to the PCT.  From here the trail goes through some forests of Mountain Hemlock with sporadic small sub-alpine meadows.  There are some nice campsites on this stretch of the PCT just above the Cispus river valley as you leave the Snowgrass area.  In the Cispus valley below it is normal to see huge heards of Elk in the morning as many people have attested to seeing during various visits.  Soon you will reach the Cispus river tributaries the first of which passes right next to a waterfall.  The views are specacular with the open meadows above and below.  Gilbert Peak's steep slopes are to the east rising above the meadows full of wildflowers like a well decorated wall protecting a garden and feeding it water from the snowfields on its slopes.  This is the last decent area to camp for the next 3-4 miles (near Sheep Lake).  From here the trail climbs briefly but quickly to Cispus Pass (over 6,400 feet elevation) with a brief portion of the trail offering views into the origins of the Klickitat River Valley.  Soon you cross back over to the Lewis County side of the crest and through some Hemlock forest which where very tranquil to walk through at dusk. 

I found a flat spot on which to set my tent up somewhere about 1 mile from Sheep Lake (Sheep Lake was my original goal for a campsite but with my extra excursions delaying my arrival I thought the trail might get a bit crowded with PCT thru-hikers).  Unfortunately I mixed my tent poles up and brought the wrong ones:  The poles I brought where for a larger tent that used to long lengths for the tent and a short one for the rainfly.  My solo tent uses three poles that are the same size.  I tried to set my poles directly into the dirt far from the ends of my tent so the clips would reach.  This worked fine but the third pole could not be set to keep the roof from collapsing.  Eventually I gave up and camped cowboy style.  Having noticed quite a few signs of Bear in the area (from scat to footprints to tree markings) I was a little intimidated by camping out in the open.  It is weird how as ineffectual of a barrier against animals that a tent is, it provides some psychological security.  I am a person who has seen quite a few bears close up on my own and far from any help without being scared but for some reason tonight I had anxiety about predation:  Perhaps it was from this morning when I happened upon a bear very early or perhaps it was the bear signs near my campsite or my scary experience on the rocks near Snowy Mountain and most likely a large contribution being my exhaustion along with the constant falling of pine cones, hooting of Owls, buzzing of insects and birds landing on branches as I lay eyes wide open.  It was kind of nice noticing the stars present themselves than hide back behind a curtain of night fog then present themselves again.  I hadn't much sleep over the week so I had imagined many scenerios of possible things happening around me by the time the light of dawn began appearing.

I got an early start today and after just two minutes of hiking I ran into an uninhabited perfect campsite.  Just a couple minutes later I reached the junction to Sheep Lake and Nannie Ridge which headed over to Walupt Lake (the second largest lake in the wilderness).  Sheep Lake lies at about 5800 feet and Nannie ridge begins there with just about a 100 foot elevation gain to the ridge.  This ridge offers many magnificent views of Mt. Adams over the next 2 miles entering some nice stands of Subalpine Fir then declining steeply to Walupt Lake over the next two miles.  This was a wonderful section in the early morning hours.  There is a trail to the top of Nannie Mountain which I skipped as my feet and legs where starting to hurt from the 19 rough miles of hiking a did the previous day.  From Walupt Lake follow the roads closest to the Lake where you will see an opening to the left which is trail 7A (klickitat trail).  This trail will go for about 1 mile roughly alongside the forest road which leads to Walupt Lake campsites before crossing this road.  This trail can be taken back to the Berrypatch trailhead when used in conjuction with some largely unused and/or abandonded forest service roads (Bring a forest service map with you:  I used the Goat Rocks and Tatoosh Wilderness map present by the Forest Service).