June 6-9, 2009, Goat Rocks Wilderness

My girlfriend and I backpacked into the Goat Rocks wilderness for a much-anticipated ski trip over the past few days.  Driving in on Friday afternoon, we found to our dismay that the forest service road (#21) was blocked by snow about 6-7 miles short of the Snowgrass Flats trailhead.  We had a few days, though, so decided to go ahead with the slog in, which was a mix of dirty snow and long dry patches along the road.  We camped at the trailhead the first night, and then made the hike in on Saturday to a campsite near Snowgrass Flats.  The weather was uncooperative on Sunday, as thick, cold clouds continually streamed in from the northwest, blanketing the area and only teasing us with brief glimpses of the peaks above us.

Monday dawned fair and party cloudy, though, and we hurriedly set off for a day of skiing. The snow didn't appear to freeze well overnight, and was already softening by late morning, so we stuck to the western aspects below Old Snowy and Ives Peak for some fun runs.  Other areas, including McCall Basin, Packwood Glacier basin, and the lines above Goat Lake still have good coverage.  What a beautiful area.  We heard voices and saw tracks of a couple skiers that passed near our tent on Saturday morning, but otherwise didn't see anyone the entire time.  Tree pollen was thick and sticky below treeline, but not too bad up in the alpine area.