Day 154 Goat Rocks – The Hike

17.36 miles
From Sheep Lake/Nannie Ridge (mile 2272.6, elevation 5714)
To follow camp (mile 2287.4, elev 4921)
Upload 3610
Descend 4438

After hearing others talk about Goat Rocks, I was looking forward to it. But I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, since I hadn’t done much research on the PCT before starting my trip.

This morning there was a little frost in my tent. It was difficult to move in that cold. I had to stop several times to warm my hands enough to have the dexterity to pack all my things. I finally made it to the trail around 7:30.

There were a couple of good sized climbs in the morning, with the final climb of 1400 feet peaking at 7100 feet.

sheep lake

Mount Adams and morning fog from my campsite at Sheep Lake

The first climb paralleled Nannie Ridge to a ridge overlooking a bowl at the headwaters of the Klickitat River. But that ridge wasn’t really the end of the climb, as it continued climbing another 400 feet across the end of that bowl to Crispus Pass. Along that climb, the peak on the left had a large section made up of basalt columns like at Devil’s Postpile.

Overcoming Nannie Ridge and looking towards Gilbert Peak

Columnar basalt as in Devil’s Postpile

Closeup of some of the broken columns

Looking down the Klickitat Valley from Crispus Pass

Once over Crispus Pass, the trail descended about 500 feet and wound its way around the end of a bowl formed by the Crispus River.

Waterfall on a side stream in Crispus Valley

Looking back towards the Crispus River valley. You can see the path that runs along the slope to the left. It entered the valley much further up to the right.

The trail then headed north, slowly climbing as it traversed the ridge heading toward Old Snowy Mountain. Maps showed this peaked at around 7,100 feet. As I approached a ridge, it was clear that I would reach it around 7,000 feet in elevation, so I assumed the trail would continue near that ridge and climb the last 100 feet. I felt good because my climbing was almost over for the day.

Gentle trail and a rock wall to allow for it. This was the easiest scree field to cross on my entire hike. I saw this and hoped that all the scree fields in Washington would be so easy to cross.

Big rock cairns! I wonder if they will be necessary to find the trail before all the snow melts early in the year.

Some fall colors. The yellow came mainly from white pasqueflowers and the red from blue-leaved huckleberries.

I didn’t know what awaited me on the other side of that ridge. An adventure began in which I got more than the desired amount of chills.

First, as I crossed the ridge, the trail became difficult to follow as it traversed a large talus/scree slope over a glacier. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see the top of the glacier, but my map showed that the trail went a little higher and crossed over the top. I saw what looked like a platform above me, so I climbed onto it to get over the glacier.

As I followed the platform, it became clear that there was no clear path up there and the terrain became much steeper. Instead of climbing up these steep rocks, I put away my hiking poles and climbed using hands and feet on a zigzag path back and toward the top of the glacier. And while I was trying to save battery on my InReach, I turned on tracking so that my position would be reported periodically in case I fell somewhere. Seeing some hikers heading south made it clear that traversing near the glacier was much easier.

Looking back at the terrain around the glacier. The trail crested the ridge around the right edge of the photo. I think I was probably on the hump a little to the left of the large snowfield when I opted to backtrack/downhill to immediately cross over the snow.

The trail then followed a fairly clear path, traversing the cirque below Old Snowy. While the trail itself was not steep, the slope it traversed was very steep. Before I got very far, I saw a rock bouncing down the slope far ahead of me. The rock didn’t stop until several hundred feet below. He was very clear that this would not be a good place to make a misstep.

To make matters worse, the road wasn’t the most solid ground. It reminded me of walking on a sandy beach, where you step and the sand moves and allows your foot to sink a few inches before stopping. But in this case the quicksand was at the edge of that slope where I had just seen a rock fall several hundred feet. I was careful to always plant my trekking poles solidly.

Towards the end of the cirque, the path disappeared for about two hundred feet, forcing me to choose my own path through the rocks.

In addition to that first rock rolling down the hill, I saw two more small rockfalls as I traversed. Only one of them was caused by me: around that section where the ground moved with each step.

Looking back at the circus under Old Snowy. If you zoom in, you can see the trail coming off the ridge and going a little above the big patch of snow.

Looking across the valley from Old Snowy Cirque.

My reward for successfully navigating the cirque was walking along the ridge leading down from Old Snowy. The terrain, although not completely smooth, was generally solid rock. But it has the nickname «The Razor’s Edge» for a reason. The ridge wasn’t much wider than the trail itself and if you walked to the right or left, you’d be like those rocks I’d seen before, falling a few hundred feet before stopping. So I was very careful not to trip over rocks or uneven ground.

This entire section is what I called a «don’t make mistakes» section. It is impossible to make multiple mistakes here, because your first mistake will be your last and will send you downhill.

Knife Edge from near the end of the circus. You can see the trail that goes along the ridge ahead/below.

Another stretch along Knife Edge

Looking towards Old Snowy along Knife Edge

As I finished the knife edge, there was one last little climb. At the top of that climb, a woman was sitting calmly on a rock. If she had been wearing a white robe, I would have sworn she was a guru like the one I saw depicted in comic strips growing up. As I approached, I joked with her, «Oh, wise guru. Can you tell me how I can survive this day in one piece?» Kristen laughed and told me it was all over the really intimidating path. We talked for several minutes. She, her husband, and her oldest son were on a short backpacking trip that weekend. She was sitting on the rock waiting for her son, who had gone ahead to climb Old Snowy.

Looking back at Old Snowy (with all the snow). The circus is in view to the right of the peak.

Looking towards Mount Rainier from Goat Rocks

I continued on, descending a trail that was still rocky and often steep, but not as scary as before. At the 1+ mile per hour pace I had been taking for the last two hours, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to finish my desired 25 miles that day. I found a nice lunch spot with a view of Mount Rainier. Just as I was putting on my backpack after lunch, I heard some hikers. It was Kristen and her son, Matt. We walked and talked the next few miles until we came to a trail intersection where her husband, Mike, was waiting. We all talked for a couple more minutes before they headed down one path and I headed down the other.

It was getting late, so I decided to walk a few more miles before finding a place to camp. On the way I met another woman with a dog walking in the opposite direction. He was curious if he could carry his dog through the knife edge and rocks. I tried to give him a good idea of ​​the trail, even showing him some photos on my phone. But her dog made it difficult for her, since he was very big and very protective/aggressive.

Camp site

I finally found a good campsite and settled in for the night.