Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington
This backpacking trip was an especially memorable one for many reasons.
The Goat Rocks Wilderness is a beautiful area with a variety of hiking and backcountry campsites. One of our hiking trio, Rebecca, did her usual due diligence in choosing and researching the route. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it with us because of an injury at home (after another backcountry trip around Mt Hood!) that required ankle surgery.
With her permission, Erica and I went without her. This trip is what I look forward to all year. Not having a lot of opportunities to completely escape for a few days on a regular occasion, this one was in the planning since our trip to the Strawberry Mountains in August of 2018. Amazing ladies and beautiful wilderness - what could be better!
The time of year was perfect for wildflowers at this elevation (trip details are below pictures). I took a bazillion pictures with hopes of identifying and actually beginning to learn them. Since my time as a trainer of tour guides in Florida, I have yet to really get back into identification. There is a lot to be learned of my new home environment. With some research, I found an app for iPhone called PictureThis which quickly matched my pictures with the best tree and flowers. It’s great! I only wish they also could identify mushrooms.
The trip was a loop with two opportunities to take a side trip to a summit and enjoy spectacular views. We got away early on a Thursday and beat most of the crowd the first night. The majority of others seemed to take the clockwise route so our counterclockwise approach and early arrival worked well for us.
We ran into numerous couples and families that have been hiking the Goat Rocks Wilderness for 20+ years. I will definitely be going back as well.
The trip was a time of reflection for me. I had returned to Central Oregon just three weeks before this trip after visiting my family during my mom’s heart surgery. The surgery had numerous complications and was a big push into adulting at the next-level status. While it was hard to leave her to get back to work, it was also hard to leave my dad. His health seemed to be taking a turn and I worried when I left Florida that I may not see him again. The day I returned to cell reception after the trip I had the call to return home to see him through his final days.
The year 2019 has been a particularly challenging one for me and my family. I am fortunate to have chosen, with great intention, a life where I can work from anywhere. I was able to spend the time with family and even return for another long stay through the holidays.
That last night in Goat Rocks I spent some time reflecting on what I was grateful for, what I was excited about and ready for in the future, and how I was going to continue to make wonderful things happen. So while my intention to resurrect Megzawander was born on this trip, it took a while to be able to put it all together. And now, I have a lot of happy memories to recall of the last year with my father. Life is meant to be lived and I know he would be proud.
![[Bee loving] blessed milkthistle](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/577e6867f5e231646ec15c31/1566902330842-95V0935X73GBT35Y1WKB/IMG_0144.jpeg)
Day 1& 2: Thursday 8/22/19 and Fri 8/23/19 (tracked days 1 and 2 together :( )
Day 1 we hiked from snowgrass flats to our campsite. We did well to pick out campsite and get setup and use this as basecamp for the next two nights (6000 elevation). Explored a little in the area, filled up on water from the stream and enjoyed the first pack-beer or two. Beer tastes better when you haul it up some elevation.
Day 2 we woke up and took our day-packs, backtracked a little, and did the ascent of Old Snowy Mountain (7800 elevation). The summit reminded me of South Sister a bit with the loose rocks. There was one small snow-field (of icy death) to cross.
The views of Rainier were very impressive and once we started to head back down, we noticed that Adams had been in sight behind us the whole time. A reminder to turn around every once in a while.
I only fell once and renewed my love affair for hiking poles. The uphill was straight up in some parts so I was very grateful we made this our only trip on the first full day. We got back to the campsite and had another chill evening.
Day 3: 8/24/19 We started early because of the increase in other hikers we saw coming into Friday evening. As we hiked out, we noticed a bunch of people had set up camp in the field next to us due to lack of spots. We beat most people onto the trails. This part of the hike is what reminded me of a magical Dr.Seuss land with shapes, colors, and sensations that were not part of the everyday. We must have stopped every 100 feet to take pictures. Even the mist was beautiful.
We started seeing the other smart folks who woke up early coming from the clockwise route. They reported there were plenty of spots but it did get a little busy by the lake. Our next campsite destination was beyond that in a “prime” location so we enjoyed the hike, the lake, the amazing scenery and then moved on to snag our campsite in Jordan’s Basin. We got the primo spot (thanks to Rebecca’s research) and then backtracked for our second summit of the trip; Hawkeye Point (7431 elevation). More great views though it was cloudier and we couldn’t really see Adams or Rainier from here. We finally saw the goats that had been above us the whole day!
The return to the campsite was a little rough on my knees but we made it back earlyish and enjoyed the campsite before the wind and fog rolled through. It was a little creepy from our vantage point but even rough weather can be beautiful when you’re prepared with the right gear and sustenance!
Day 4: 8/25/19 Our final day we woke up early again after a very windy night. We had another 5 miles to return to the cars and the views, while not as spectacular, continued to be impressive. We saw so many beautiful sites throughout the trip we chose not to do the extra side loop to Goat Ridge Lookout. We couldn’t imagine it being any better than what we had already seen.
This is the kind of trip you want to do over and over. I’m not sure if it was the time of year, the wildflowers, the weather, or just the beauty of the landscape, but it was amazing.
I tracked using the Gaia app this year and didn’t quite perfect using it. The total ascent I tracked was 5497 in 23.31 miles.
