WTA Volunteers spent a long weekend hiking up the steep western approach to Angry Mountain clearing dozens of downed trees across the trail. This project is part of a multi-year effort to restore this route that has been virtually impassible due to hundreds of trees across the trail. More work is scheduled in 2016.

We picked this hike out on a whim. I have never been to goat rocks wilderness. We were passsing thru from Mossyrock's Ike Kineswa SP (a nice little car camping gem in Spring as many campgrounds are closed this time of year.) No phone data service available so we had to go low tech for trail beta. WE found the ranger station in Randle closed. But the giant topo map displayed behind a kiosk outside showed this nice looking ridge hike called angry mountain. I figured there should be nice views so we went for it. Hiked in/up 6 miles and maybe 2500' elevation. A fair number of blow downs to hurdle / climb over and under. Most did not look recent. The trail must not see much maintenance and I understand why. Its a POS. The ONLY view the entire time was a window in the tree cover that framed Mt. Adams. The trees are relatively young, no water features of note, nor wildlife. Dont go here. Don't hike here. Ever. 1.5 stars. The only redeeming factors were there was no one else and the run on the way down was pretty fun. Because it gets such little use, the accumulating forest duff has made the trail very soft and spongy so the knees were happy! I would probably choose the annoying crowds and mind-numbing gradual switchbacks of Mt. Si over this disappointment of a hike. When we got home, I went on the WTA website and found the good stuff is about 8 miles further down the FS road. Makes me really appreciate this site as it has saved me from doing many crappy hikes I predict! Thanks to all who contribute to this site!

This wasn't a hike so much as it was an obstacle course. I tried this hike last year and was driven off by angry yellowjackets. (See the previous trip report.) I decided to try again this year. NF-21 road is rough in some places (washboarding) but other than that getting there is no problem. The rockslide that blocked the road to the trailhead is still there. Easy to cross and it make the hike about an extra 150yds longer. This trail is not well maintained however someone has done some trailwork for as there was only a couple of blowdowns for the first two miles compared to last year when there were dozens. (who ever did this work--thank you). The hike isn't overly steep but the first couple of miles will give you a workout. However once you hit the Goat Rocks Wilderness the maintenance stopped. From this point on I had to step over, crawl under, and hike around dozens and dozens of blowdowns. Easily over a hundred one way. It felt like I encountered a blowdown every 50ft. However after a little ways, the trail levels out some and it would be an easy hike if not for the blowdowns. But don't let your guard down as there is another steep section further on that brings you close to the top of Angry Mountain. I had wanted to try to go all the way to Hart (or is it Heart?) Lake but knowing how rough it was getting to that point, I turned around and proceeded to re-do the obstacle course. This year the bugs were not bad, even when I would take a rest, very few skeeters attacked me. The trail is overgrown in places but often found again within 10 yards. There is one stream where there was water. Stream is probably exaggerating as it is more of a trickle but you can refill your water from it. And while this hike is mostly forest hiking, there are a couple of spots where you have an excellent view of Mt. Adams.

I wanted to do this trail because there seems to have been alomost no comments about it. I think I know why now. About 50yds after turning onto FR2120 I was greeted by a landslide that blocked the way to the trailhead. Looking at the side of the hill I can see this is going to be an on-going problem in the future. Infact while I was getting ready some additional rock tumbled down. I hiked over the rockslide to the trail head which was about 150yds further on. Right way I can see this trail gets little use. While some places the trail can be easily followed, in many other areas it practically disappears. Several times I had to scout around to see where it picked-up again. It is a nice forested hike when you can find the trail.I encountered about 20 blowdowns. Most were easy to get over or under or around. However about two miles up while crossing another blowdown, I knocked some back off the tree. This apparantly upset the yellowjackets that were living behind the bark. Got stung 5-6 times while trying to get away. There was no other easy way around that blowdown and I didn't feel like messing with the YJs again. So I never made it to the top. I was disappointed that I couldn't finish. The hike was nice in that no one else was around. I didn't mind having to scout around for the trail no some of the blowdowns. I have attached a coule of pictures of the trail.

Lily Basin Followed road 48 up to the trailhead. The first trailhead is just right along the road and the second (86.1) provides turn around for a horse trailer. The road is in decent shape. The trail was cleared probably in the last year so there was minimum obstruction except for one big blowdown which horses have worked a way around. There was very little sign of horses however. Overall,very nice, with a gradual climb up first to the ridge. I suspect that one could see Packwood Lake from here however this time the valley was filled with fog. The ridgetops to the west peaked out like little islands. The trail then crosses over to the east side of the ridge and enters the Lily Basin. Note it is a bit skinny in places, cut into the side of the hill which is sometimes scree. At the top there is a sign at the intersection with the Angry Mountain trail. this is a great panoramic viewpoint and I could see down the ridges of Angry Mountain, Johnson Peak and Mt St Helens. Staying on 86, the trail drops and shortly thereafter forks with the right spur leading down to Heart Lake. If you stay on the trail, it winds around the basin with a view of Heart Lake and the valley below. On the far side just before topping the ridge, there is a dangerous snowpatch which no one had attempted to cross. This was noted in other trail reports from years ago, so I wouldnt expect it to change soon. Before you get there (100 yards or so back), look for a side trail marked with cairns that switchbacks steeply up and around to the ridge top where you can reconnect with the trail. This was as far as I went. Smoke from the fires was thick on the other side. Angry Mountain I returned to Angry Mountain on 86 from Hawkeye Point. The trail follows the ridgeline for a while. I had surreal views with a cloudbank on either side. Then it drops down into the forest and the trouble begins. This trail was a full-body workout with over 100 blowdowns (at least that's where I stopped counting). I only saw a handful of blazes so you also have to be very alert to find and follow the trail each time you crawl up and over or through the next obstruction. Amazingly, I only lost my way once but it was very slow going. Near the bottom, someone had marked logs with red tape, but it only lasts for the roll of tape. The trail is actually easier to follow in the last 3 miles, probably with a little more use from the other end, at least until people retreat. The trail drops 2000' in the last couple miles so it would be a good climb coming in from the Johnson Creek Road (21) side. That road ends at the Johnson Creek Snowpark now, so once I got to the trailhead I still had to continue down the road a ways (1/4 mile?) to meet my ride. I won't do this trail again. But if you are looking for an adventure and solitude...Angry Mountain has just that.