Pacific Crest Trail - Day 169 - Goat Rocks Wilderness

Start: Mile 2272.6 - Sheep Lake
End: Mile 2291.8 - Backcountry campsite

Over the course of the trail we’ve had excellent luck with all things weather and camping related but waking up near Sheep Lake in a tent drenched with condensation on a pad of fine sand apparently specifically tailored to stick to the silnylon fabric of our tent was not fortuitous.

The site we chose (or really, the site that remained unoccupied by backpackers) was a few feet above lake level on the leeward side of the lake - not ideal for waking up to a dry tent. It was pretty frustrating packing up a wet sand-covered tent that weighed 2-3 pounds more than it should on an otherwise dry morning, but c’est la vie.

Some of our final glimpses of Mt. Adams behind. The wind shifted overnight, bringing a haze from a big remote fire to the southeast.

A half mile stretch of trail passed along a spectacular ridge in the Yakama reservation heading up towards Cispus Pass. Even with (or perhaps because of) the haze, the colors were extraordinary and the ridge was full of life. The land and life through here somehow felt well-loved and we appreciated the opportunity to walk through this beautiful place.

People engineer leaf spouts on trickling springs to make water collection easier.

This stretch of columnar basalt was home to a ton of small mammals and birds who were out enjoying their mornings.

Apparently I’m far from the only Camus fan out here. I suppose it’s no wonder a bunch of people who go out of their way to carry backpacks up hills relate to Sisyphus, or appreciate a play on a phrase about imagining him happy.

I took an exhilarating life affirming shower in this waterfall. There must have been an unseen glacier above because it was ice cold even in the last gasps of summer.

Incredible trail rock work. It’s amazing people were able to turn a scree slope like this into a walled perfectly cleared stretch of trail.

The combination of colors in this stretch is interesting with deep reds of late summer berry bushes combining with the bright greens of ferns and tufted plants.

Kristin spotted this guy chilling out near a spring where we collected water.

The haze obstructed views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier, but there was certainly enough to look at nearby.

Rocks.

Hikers for scale.

This snow/ice traverse was sketchier than the pictures make it out to be. We’ve both switched from the super grippy shoes we wore through the Sierra in favor of lighter more cushioned less aggressive trail running shoes and this stretch had us wishing for a bit more traction (and maybe an ice axe).

With deliberate steps and strong pole plants with our trekking poles we made it across without much trouble.

The trail was more of a faint depression in a rockslide. A combination of snow/ice, rockslides, and hikers navigating around both eroded a well worn trail in a handful of places.

The trail spectacularly traversed the very top of the ridge for a stretch. These pictures only hint at how pretty this section was.

There was an optional side route to the top of Old Snowy which was very steep and added about 1000’ of elevation gain. We opted to stick to the (still spectacular) regular route since the haze around us blocked views to the mountains beyond. A Belgian hiker we‘ve hiked with through Washington made it up to the top.

The combination of clouds filling the valley below and streaks of color running down this mountainside reminded me a lot of Haleakala National Park in Maui.

Mountain goats! They really loved this raft of snow. The herd had ~25 goats of all ages.

I’m not sure exactly when this weather started in, but after descending from Goat Rocks we found ourselves climbing back into a cloud and rain.

Although we couldn‘t see more than a few hundred feet while immersed in a cloud, we took a risk and pitched the tent on a ridge at a site people noted as having incredible views hoping we’d wake up in a dry tent with epic views of Mt. Rainier.

The cloud we were in was blowing forcefully up the ridge immediately behind our tent, but a combination of the protection provided by a handful of trees and seemingly being in an eddy under the cloud blowing up and over us, we had a comfortable evening in some otherwise gnarly weather.

Of all the days on trail, this was easily one of the most memorable and spectacular.