Goat Rocks

The theme of the last few weeks has been beautiful fall weather in the Cascades. And the next few posts are more of the same. The challenge has been deciding which subset of photos to actually post. And in this case I've split the three day trip into at least four posts and included more photos than I probably should have.

I had never been to Goat Rocks. I'm not even sure when I was last in Packwood (the closest I can recall was Ohanapecosh with D back in 2011). Unlike my Olympia friends, I never go to White Pass.  But by 11:00 on Friday morning, I was headed up the trail to Snowgrass Flats (I parked at Berry Patch, since that's where I would return early Sunday afternoon).

The Goat Rocks are the remnants of an old volcano, roughly half way between Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. The crumbly volcanic rocks rise well above 7000' in places, way above timberline and offering views of just about everything. The Pacific Crest Trail runs down their spine - precipitously so in places.

The days were pleasant, the nights were bitter, and the colors were great. There was snow from last year, and snow from last week. There were goats, but they were far away.