May 2-3, 2015, Goat Rocks Gilbert Peak

I have never skied or even hiked in the Goat Rocks so I thought I should finally go for it.  It's not that far from Seattle now since Cayuse Pass is open, a beautiful drive too.  With some decent storms in April I still only hit a few snow patches below 5,500 ft yet lots of trees down over the trail.  I followed trail 1120 for 7.5 miles to possibly the main south fork Tieton River leading up to the Meade glacier.  From the trail it was some fun scrambling and post holing up to the snowy basin below Gilbert Peak.








Goat tracks?





I decided to bring my crampons and axe which were needed to traverse the frozen west side to the summit.  However I forgot about half my food in my truck, otherwise I wanted to stay another night and ski some of the many steep lines out there.  Great trip overall and I was in complete solitude, except a fox and meeting a few horseback riders near my return to the trailhead.