Home > Trip Reports > May 9-10 Goat Rocks (Gilbert) solitude and turns

May 9-10 Goat Rocks (Gilbert) solitude and turns

5/9/15
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
4066
8
Posted by kamtron on 5/11/15 11:07am
We were trying to decide on a plan for the weekend. Baker sounded good, then we found out it had snowed a foot on Tuesday. Maybe too manky.... Shuksan was tossed around but people weren't interested in permits. Glacier would be okay, but man that sounded like a lot of walking. After a few glasses of wine and browsing through the book, I said "what about Goat Rocks?" None of us had ever been, so a plan was made. The Ryanl's TR from a month ago, I headed for the top of the striking couloir that splits the big buttress. We had a good view of it during a sunset lap the day before, so I felt okay with the conditions and my ability to find the entrance.

The entrance wasn't hard to find. It is steep! I fashioned my axe into a whippet and made cautious jump turns while managing sluff. But all was good; the snow was soft but not too soft, and it rode like a gem despite the small runnels. The narrowest part may have been less than 10'. Excitement. The snow stayed good throughout the entire gully, then got sticky and heavy in the apron below. I met up with the rest of our group back in the basin, where we picked up camp and started the long trek home. We counted ~25 "significant" (meaning: large detour or climbing or crawling shenanigans required to pass) trees down on the trail.

Thanks to Meira, Dafna, Meredith, and Tristan for a great company and adventure!

Notes:
There is accessible running water in a few creek holes in the basin below the couloir.
If planning to ski this soon, take the Surprise lake fork of the trail. That north-facing side will get you to snow faster (we went the other way).
Camp in the morning



Looking down from the Conrad-Meade col while the group rests.



Arriving at the top of the Conrad glacier, stoked for another corn run (our tracks in background).



At the top of the little couloir. Looking down the steepest, narrowest bit.



Perhaps there are two entrances?



Ready to open it up out the bottom (2 images stitched)

[img width=454 height=800]http://students.washington.edu/kamdh/images/2015_05_09_gilbert/2015-05-10%20couloir.jpg" />

Rowdy Goat Adventure Zone (pano)


Hi Guys,

Glad you had a good skiing time. That solo stranger (which you met) was me.

Goats tracks show their toes are flexible (extended), when goat wants to float/stop on snow.

Awesome stuff Kam! Looks like that line is probably already gone!

.....and another trip added to the to-ski list.

Oof - 7 miles to snow! I almost headed up to Goat Rocks myself this weekend. Looks fun, but that hike would have put a damper on things. Nice view from your camp!

Awesome work Kam! Loved the TR! Definitely putting this on the list!

Nice Kam! Lots of fin des enseguidas para ti. Matandolo.

Awesome trip! I was checking out that couloir, it looked sweet!

Thanks for all the good vibes, everyone!

andreism, it was nice to meet you out there. Strong work on your part with the 1-day push. Thanks for telling us some goat trivia. Tristan was probably wishing he had goat toes while climbing to the summit without crampons.

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may-9-10-goat-rocks-gilbert-solitude-and-turns
kamtron
2015-05-11 18:07:53