Goat Mountain 2014

Carl, Ward, Linda, Mike, Rita, Jacqueline, Carol, Jonelle, Peggy, Rich, Steve

Although the weather conditions were not ideal, we had a great group today for our hike to Goat Mountain, one of our all-time favorites. (Al was not in the picture, and I took it; for most of the day we were thirteen.) We've done this particular hike more than once a season, since it changes so much each time. Today was an early attempt to get to the overlook, and some made it and some didn't because we had so much snow.

Carol, Linda, Peggy

As we set out, I noticed that three of the ladies were arrayed in shades of purple. I needed to capture it for posterity's sake, and they accommodated by letting me take this picture. It was moderately warm as we began our uphill hike. This particular mountain trailhead starts fairly high up, at 2,500 feet, and we saw lots of beautiful green plants just recently sprouting out from under winter's snow cover.

The trail towards the beginning of the hike

We start out by hiking through a beautiful old growth forest, with lots of lush plant growth, and today, there was just a little sunshine between clouds. The trail is rather unremittingly up for the whole distance, which would end up being just over three miles to the overlook. This part was delightful, with soft dry trail to navigate, but we all knew what was coming.

Woodland violets and a soggy trail as Al trudged upwards

As we gained altitude, our trail began to be a little less lovely, with lots of mud and early growth. The woodland violets were really profuse (on the left side of the trail), and we saw lots of trillium, which have been gone from the lowlands for a while now. It was interesting, really, that there were old and new ones. I prepared this picture showing brand new trillium just out, compared with old ones that have already gone purple.

New ones on the left, old ones on the right

When those trillium on the right were young, they looked just like the ones on the left. See the one that is actually both purple and white? It must be middle-aged. And then, suddenly, when we reached the meadow, all the plants were gone, and we had nothing but snow to navigate for the rest of the way to the top.

The group heading upwards

I remembered how steep this climb is when you get towards the top, to the overlook, and since it wasn't sunny, I knew I could make it. But not everyone was so sure it was a good idea to plow through the snow to an uncertain place. We would need to turn around and descend this snow. Eventually, four Trailblazers decided to stop for lunch at a lower elevation, while the rest of us struggled to reach the place where we might have a real view.

Mt. Sefrit on the left, and Mt. Shuksan's summit behind clouds on the right

This is where the majority of us stopped for a quick lunch on the snow before heading back down to join the others. The descent on the snow was quick and a bit treacherous. I fell, naturally, and managed to fill my left pocket with snow, which made for an interesting trek back down to the exposed trail. (What is that weird coldness on my leg? Why is my pocket bulging like that?)

By the time we had returned to the cars, we all agreed that it had been a good day, that we had a modicum of fun, even if it wasn't our favorite trek to the overlook, and we will return again later in the season to see what awaits us, to see how much it has changed from today's adventure.
-)