Goat Lake Loop and the PCT to Old Snowy

21 miles of hiking • 5250' elevation gain • 1 night

Did this classic loop this weekend. Now I see why it's so popular. Far more interesting than the southern half of Goat Rocks, with some really beautiful views. And wow, the crowds. I thought surely this late in the season the backpackers would be out in fewer numbers, but I still must have seen over 100 people out there—I can't imagine what it's like during the summer.

I did the loop counter-clockwise, taking the bypass trail up to the PCT. There was a strong inversion all of Saturday, so everything below 5500' or so was cloud covered. Mt. Adams was obscured for most of the time due to the fire.

I took the PCT up to Mt. Snowy and then followed the ridge line for awhile. A very cool spot. The inversion made for some very cool above-cloud hiking. There were several great campsites in the vicinity, which made for great sunset viewing. Dinner was one part ramen packet, one part alfredo sauce packet, one part foil salmon packet and some spices from home. The wind picked up right after the sun went down, but it cleared out the inversion for the morning.

Where I saw the most people was around the Snowgrass Flats area and then up through Goat Lake. This is definitely a mid-week kind of place. The weather Sunday was pleasantly cool and occasionally cloudy.

Each stream had great floral displays. And the path up and over past Goat Lake had quite the views. Looks like the secret is out on this place.