July 1-2, 2017, Goat Rocks
7/1/17
WA Cascades West Slopes South (Mt Rainier)
2681
1
Tim, Andrew, and I spent the weekend skiing the Goat Rocks area. We came in from the Chambers Lake Trail Head and headed up toward Snowgrass Flat. This is about the area where snow was continuous enough to put the skins on (Snow line was about 6k feet). We decided to take a look around the Alpine Camp area just West Snowgrass Flat. We found a perfect basecamp for our tours in a clump of trees.
After camp was setup, we headed East / NorthEast toward Ives peak. We were able to find great lines on the saddle just south of Ives. The snow line stopped at about this elevation - 7,400 feet. After some great turns we picked our way back to camp for the night.
The next morning we set out North toward Goat Lake along the Lilly Basin Trail. Our goal was to find something on Hawkey Point (7431 feet). Unfortunately the snow had warmed up and made for difficult skinning on the traverses. This slowed us down, and we decided to eat lunch at the lake and abandon our initial objective. We were able to find some bowls along the ridges for some fun on the way back to camp.
The hike out was non eventful except for the swarms of mosquitoes awaiting our return at the car.
Pro tips:
- Bring bug spray
- Trail shoes for the approach (Told ya Tim!)
- Spend more time up there, its amazing
Approaching Snowgrass Flat with great views of Adams.
View from the saddle just South of Ives looking West
Same location, looking East
Goat Lake
Looking East from Goat Lake
After camp was setup, we headed East / NorthEast toward Ives peak. We were able to find great lines on the saddle just south of Ives. The snow line stopped at about this elevation - 7,400 feet. After some great turns we picked our way back to camp for the night.
The next morning we set out North toward Goat Lake along the Lilly Basin Trail. Our goal was to find something on Hawkey Point (7431 feet). Unfortunately the snow had warmed up and made for difficult skinning on the traverses. This slowed us down, and we decided to eat lunch at the lake and abandon our initial objective. We were able to find some bowls along the ridges for some fun on the way back to camp.
The hike out was non eventful except for the swarms of mosquitoes awaiting our return at the car.
Pro tips:
- Bring bug spray
- Trail shoes for the approach (Told ya Tim!)
- Spend more time up there, its amazing
Approaching Snowgrass Flat with great views of Adams.
View from the saddle just South of Ives looking West
Same location, looking East
Goat Lake
Looking East from Goat Lake
Looking good up there! That's a great time to see the Goat Rocks, before the summer hordes of hikers move in.
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