Hike of the Week : Goat Peak, well, sorta...

This hike was supposed to be 5 hours long... spoiler alert: we didn't make it. But there I go again, getting ahead of myself...

We had camped the night before across the street at Hell's Crossing Campground -- which meant we could hit the trailhead early.

The trail to the peak gains over 3200 feet in under 3.3 miles -- as WTA.org says, the trail "seems relentless, requiring strong hooves and the energy of a mountain goat."

The trail was narrow and started climbing immediately.

Now, if you thought you were gonna haul your hang glider up here, you were wrong. Dead wrong.
This is WILDERNESS, baby!

Up and up we went -- in some stretches the trail was rocky / rooty, in others packed dirt.

The first stretch followed a creek uphill, which made the trail feel lush and green.

But when we turned away from the creek, things started getting sparse and dry.

And then we hit stretches like this -- super narrow path, on a scree slope, and steep.

There were some nice wildflowers on the slope, but we were too focused on our own feet to notice.

 We rounded a corner and came to a pretty little plateau just off the main trail. It looks like people sometimes camp here, but today it was just perfect spot for a little break.

And some nice views:

After a quick break we continued up the trail -- brushing against bushes filled with flowers and bees.

In a few places, the view opened up and we could get a glimpse of Rainier. Or is that Adams....

Then there were more stretches like this -- which felt way more unpleasant in person than they look in these photos.

Since the trail was getting worse -- narrower and steeper and just unpleasant -- we turned back a couple of miles into the hike. Going down was, if anything, less enjoyable than going up -- because we had a lot of scree to cross.

It seems this trail is often used in the winter as a snowshoe route -- which might, oddly, make it more enjoyable. But on this day we decided to let discretion be the better part of valor. No goats for us!

Goat Peak Trail (sorta)

4.25 miles

1856 feet elevation

Hike of the Week : Baker Lake Trail ... or is it the Noisy Creek Trail?

We had hoped to do a looooong hike today up to the Park Butte lookout,  but two things conspired against us.

The smaller reason was that this was our second Summit Simulation weekend, and Saturday's hike was supposed be 3 hours, while Sunday's hike was supposed to be 5 hours. But that doesn't really matter.

The larger, and eventually compelling reason was that there is still a LOT of snow up near Baker, and trail reports mentioned things like "snow bridges" and, well, I don't need that.

But we had managed to secure a campsite for one night in the Panorama Point campground, so we needed something nearby. And while it wasn't going to be particularly challenging, the Baker Lake Trail seemed to fit the bill.

We got up early and hit the road, arriving at the northern trailhead before 9. The road to trailhead -- especially once you get onto the unpaved stretch -- was a little odd, with lots of people camping alongside it. But to each their own.

Also there were lots of people camping at the trailhead, including in the parking lot. Again, odd, but I guess they were still on the lake, right?

We hit the trail around 9am -- it starts out sharing the Baker River Trail through the trees.

We even saw a few people camping just off the trail here, which wouldn't have been ideal, but I guess at night it would be super quiet!

Soon we reached a trail junction and turned left.

We crossed the river on a long, bouncy, suspension bridge.

We lingered a while on the bridge to admire the views of the river.

Later in the day, when we returned to this spot, we saw people enjoying the beach here. I think this is the first time we've seen people who weren't hiking while out hiking. And I think I like it.

 Then we headed off along the trail. We soon crossed a rushing stream on a handsome wooden bridge.

A little farther along the trail, I saw a little nook and hopped into it, saying, "Oh, this looks like where a bear would live!" And then in mid-air I half panicked, because, well, IT LOOKS LIKE WHERE A BEAR WOULD LIVE. But, luckily, the area was vacant.

Wil a little ways up the trail as I quickly emerged from the Bear's Lair, all flustered.

Quick aside: when I was in grad school at Berkeley, the on-campus bar was called the Bear's Lair. Yep, Berkeley had an on-campus bar in the student union. I initiated a weekly happy hour for all the first year history grad students, every Friday at 4. Why at 4? Because that's when the library closed! The Bear's Lair served hard cider, and also offered beer and cider in QUARTS. Yep, 2 pints in one massive plastic cup. Good times.

Speaking of good times, we meandered along the trail, which was described as "busy" but was completely empty while we were going out. For the most part the trail was level, with lots of handsome bridges.

At first we had glimpses of the river and dry river beds, but eventually we climbed into the trees and away from the water.

I loved the otherworldly look of this moss- and root-draped boulder. Feels very Pandora, somehow.

We had seen this trail described as flat, but it was actually pretty rolling. Nothing steep, mind you, but lots of ups and downs.

We crossed another bridge being repaired. Note: this is *not* the Anderson Creek Bridge ... that's at the southern end of the trail, very near that trailhead. Apparently. And as of now, according to WTA.org, it's still out.

This bridge crossed this rushing waterfall -- really glad not to have to cross this at ground level!

There were, however, a couple of crossings to navigate, but nothing major. 

And all the while, we had silence in the green woods.

Wil admired the waterproofing of his Gore-tex boots in this crossing.

 We kept on going for about an hour and a half, seeing no one at all.

We turned down one narrow side path to catch a glimpse of the lake ...

... as well as this sweet campsite in the woods:

From this site on the lake you could get a peek-a-boo view of Baker, too.

But then it was time to head back along the trail.

We stood on this bridge in the sun for a while enjoying the quiet.

Then back across the big suspension bridge -- almost back now.

On the last stretch I noticed this big fella off to the side of the trail -- a huge douglas fir. (I think?) I put Wil in the photo for scale. 

This trail was pure relaxation -- nice and mellow, and quiet if you get there early. In theory one could hike 14.5 miles to the south trailhead, but I wouldn't want to do it as an out-and-back. I can see why people use this as a "beginner's backpacking" destination, too. I'd happily hike this again!

Baker Lake Trail -- from the north side to Noisy Creek

8 miles
1400 feet elevation

"Steer-way to Heaven" ... Hike of the Week : Cow Heaven

First and foremost -- I didn't make up the terrible pun. But it does make me laugh, which is bad enough. Until I start thinking about what a steer is and why, probably, they wouldn't have been taken up the mountain to graze in the Cow Heaven pastures. But maybe.

We knew we wouldn't be able to hike the entire trail -- we'd read recent trail report of snow, and we only had a set amount of time to hike. How long? Well, it was either 6 or 5 hours. But I'm getting ahead of myself again.

This weekend was our second "summit simulation" weekend: two progressively longer hikes. Saturday's was set for at least 3 hours; Sunday's at least 5 hours, or 3,000 feet of elevation. Of course, in my head it was 6 hours, but looking at my official training schedule, it was only 5.

We had hiked 3 mellow hours on the Baker Lake Trail the day before, then camped at Panorama Point -- really nice. Oddly enough, we slept until after 7am in our little tent, which is a lot later than we usually manage to sleep in the summer. Wil made breakfast while I broke down the camp, and we were on the road by 8:15.

The first challenge of this trail was to find it. Oh, sure, we had directions... but were hesitant to drive down what looked like someone's driveway in search of the trailhead. Luckily, it's just a few hundred feet from the ranger station, so we popped in and got confirmation that, yes, you drive up the gravel road and look for the wooden sign. I assure you, it was still a little odd, but we got there.

The flyer on the right is a "lost goats" sign ... I hope the goats are found happy and healthy!

My instinct is that they're fine ... I mean, bears aren't going to go after them, and there's plenty to eat, lots of shelter, etc. Of course, Wil mentioned cougars, but I'm going to say the goats are living it up. In Cow Heaven.

The trail set off through the trees, and soon reached a very wet stretch. Lots of moss, lots of ferns, and lots of water. It honestly looked a bit like something in a Rainforest Cafe.

For a while, the "trail" actually followed the creek bed.

Looking back -- seriously, Rainforest Cafe? Or Cow Heaven?

Then we climbed into a stretch bursting with ferns. Great big ferns up to my waist.

This trail climbs quickly, gaining 4500 feet in under 5 miles. And while the first half mile or so is mellow and meanders through shady glens, that all changes quickly.

Shady glen (above), SWITCHBACK HELL (below):

Okay, okay, so it's still a shady glen, but the switchbacks were nutty. And every so often we'd come across these exposed rock faces or massive boulders.

But, mostly, it was hilly. Sometimes when I take pictures of hills it doesn't look like they're as steep as they felt. This one sure does:

The trail itself was nicely built and well maintained, despite being little visited. We saw one downed tree (which we could easily step over) and one spot which looked like it had been washed out a little. And it just kept going up.

There were a couple of stream crossings, but not troublesome for a hiker in Gore-tex boots.

We were hiking and hiking and Wil said that according to his GPS, we were crawling along at about 1 mile per hour. We scoffed at this -- surely not! There must be something wrong with the GPS! And then we saw this. At just under 2 hours time-wise, and at 2.10 miles on Wil's GPS. #humbling

The trail started to get less happy packed dirt and more exposed rocks and roots. But on we climbed, every so often wondering if things were looking a little brighter, or if that cold wind was from the snow in the meadow. But that was all wishful thinking, of course. The trees did thin a bit, but that was really just enough to let the drizzle come through. That's right -- drizzle. A proper sprinkle. It was RAINING.

Not a soaking rain, and of course we had our waterproofs in our packs. But our spirits were well and truly dampened, and since we hit the 2.5-hour mark, we decided to turn back. It was either that or try to start a fire under this overhanging boulder. Okay, not really. But we did turn back.

We re-crossed some creeks.

Headed back down some switchbacks.

Recrossed my least-favorite crossing.

And continued down the trail. We did also sit down to have a break and a snack at about the 3:30 mark, nibbling on a Kind Bar (cranberry almond) and an Rx Bar (coconut chocolate) before we continued our descent.

Still SO FAR to go!

The whole time we were on the trail -- over 5 hours -- we only came across 3 people. And while I might have yelped when I was startled by the 3rd man, it was my fault. 

We took one #bootie in one of the streams:

But I think this one really captured our time on the trail -- lots of green, and a very steep drop!

Cow Heaven Trail

10 miles round trip (full trail*)
4500 feet elevation
* we hiked 6.2 miles round trip with 2887 feet of elevation

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