Goat Rocks' west side is a hard hike to beat

My two trips into the Goat Rocks Wilderness couldn't have been more different. The 2008 trip hiking in from the Scatter Creek Trailhead on the north featured modest views, relatively easy hiking and no animals.

The 2009 follow-up from the west side was another story completely.

On the second trip, we could see Mount Rainier and either Mount Adams or Mount St. Helens pretty much all the time, with Packwood, Goat and Heart lakes closer in. For wildlife, will 100 or more mountain goats do?

We started at the Lily Basin Trailhead the second trip. It's at the western edge of the Goat Rocks Wilderness, near Packwood, Wash. But it's not a place to head if you're among the faint of heart. To say there were steep drop-offs alongside the trail would be an understatement.

The aim of our trip was to get to Elk Pass from this side. On the map, it looked doable. On the ground, it was not, at least not all the way. The scenery and animals more than made up for that and led to the planning of yet a third trip, for this summer. I still don't think we'll get to Elk Pass, but the shelf below it and the Goat Rocks will make the third trip worth it.

Actually, the first few miles from the trailhead were fine, uphill through the woods with tantalizing peeks through trees of Rainier and Adams, the former much closer. Then we hit the head of the Glacier Creek Basin and the drop-offs began. At least at this point in the trip, there usually were a few trees down slope, giving what at best would be mental barriers to grab onto if one fell.

From there on, it was just some low groundcover or grass or, in some places, really nothing more than scree. It was a challenge going in toward Goat Lake, when we were hiking slightly uphill through that scree section. It was a horrifying thing for me to contemplate hiking downhill in reverse on the way out, something we eventually had to do.

We stayed the first night at Heart Lake, the next two at Goat Lake. Both lakes had goats - at least 50 each - as did the high spots of the Glacier Creek drainage. Heart Lake has better campsites, but Goat Lake gets points for views. It sits at the head of Goat Creek, with the entire Goat Creek drainage in view. The Goat Rocks edge one side, Goat Ridge the other. At the low end, there was Mount Adams, complete with a white topcoat.

Goat Lake itself is pretty barren, but a gorgeous aqua in color and surrounded on three sides by steep red-brown rocks. It makes for a cozy little basin , especially with those goats scattered here and there on the high ridges. That some of the camping spots are spectacular, on bits of land that jut out into space and hang over the Goat Creek drainage, makes the camping worth it.

We day hiked up onto the shelf above the Goat Creek Basin, a gorgeous spot that sits just below the Goat Rocks. The rocks are wonderfully colored pinks and grays and whites and blacks. Clumps of trees are dispersed throughout, some with isolated camping spots. It's where we plan to go this fall starting at the Snowgrass Trailhead on the south.

We've been told the trail across the slopes of Old Smokey is even more skunky than what we've already hiked and probably not hikeable for someone like me, making Elk Pass an iffy achievement.

But the trip will still be worth it.

If you go

DESCRIPTION AND DIFFICULTY: Goat Rocks Wilderness trail Nos. 86, 96 and 97 in Gifford-Pinchot National Forest. Moderate to strenuous hike.

TRAIL NOTES: There are a couple of campsites in the Glacier Creek Basin. The side trail to Heart Lake is unsigned but pretty obvious, about half a mile after the saddle separating its basin from that of Glacier Creek. When the trail to Heart splits, go right for the best camping spots.

DIRECTIONS: Turn east off U.S. Highway 12 just south of Packwood, Wash., onto Road 48, also known as Blakeley. In 9.7 miles, stay left. The signed trailhead is on the right in 1.3 more miles.

INFORMATION: Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Vancouver, (360) 891-5000.

MAPS: We used the Forest Service Goat Rocks Wilderness and Tatoosh Wilderness map.

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Aegerter is an avid hiker/backpacker who lives in Uniontown. She may be contacted at city@lmtribune.com.