Great day to be out in the mountains! I was hiking with my dog and got into more snow than I expected about 2 miles in. Just wasn't prepared for it and couldn't pick up the trail. Didn't make it all the way, but hiked up to get some great views at the top of the ridge.

Ethan, Karen, Brenda, & I hiked up the Gold Creek Trail to the Bald Mtn Road on this sunny, warm day.  When we got to the stretch below the top of Devil's Slide we climbed up to the top of the slide.  We climbed up too soon for the best views, however, so we bushwhacked through the dense sagebrush along the  top of the slide to the east end where the best views are.  This turned out to be quite tiring for me and I was dragging for the rest of the hike.  We dropped back down to the trail and continued on up to the Bald Mtn Road.  All the meadows up here were filled with spring beauty.  Once here we walked  south about 1/2 mile and found a nice lunch spot overlooking the headwaters of the Lefthand Fork of Rock Creek to Mt Cleman.  After lunch the others continued out the road toward Bald Mtn to the nice views of the Goad Rocks, Nelson Ridge, Mt Rainier, and the Stuarts.  Afterwards we made our way back the way we had come.  We saw a number of ATVs on the Bald Mtn Rd and one on the 2-track portion of the Gold Creek Trail.  We didn't see any wildlife, but people in one of the ATVs told us they had seen a lot of elk and we saw lots of mountain goat sign at the top of Devil's Slide.  The wildflowers were nice, especially the glacier lilies and spring beauty, but we were a little early for the best flower show.

Gold Creek to Rampart Falls 

It was a lovely morning with cooler temperatures and the clouds were slowly burning off. If you are looking for an easier trail with a nice waterfall destination this is it. Most of the trail is in reasonably good shape but there are areas where it could use some serious brushing. You could barely see the trail and with the rocks under the brush, you had to be a bit careful where you put your feet. We also had to step over at least a dozen downed trees, three of them were quite large.

The waterfall is located approximately 3 miles in at an avalanche chute, a perfect turnaround point. This time the falls had a bit more water than in the past years.

Overall, it’s a lovely trail but could use a little of WTA’s tender loving care. The mile of gravel road from the parking lot to the actual trailhead is not enjoyable to walk and neither is the bumpy access road to the Gold Creek Parking lot. It sure could use a grating.

7.3 miles rt/ 430' ascent 

Got an early 7am start after car-camping at the trailhead. Followed a single-track trail a bit over a mile up to the Devil's Slide area, continued on a double-track road for 1.5 miles to a large 3-way intersection, and another 0.5 miles on a less-used double-track west along a ridge to an open area with views spanning from Mt Adams to Mt Rainier.

Access. Rd 1705 + 1703 were in great condition all the way to the end, but had a lot of turns with poor visibility. No facilities at the trailhead (other than an information board).

Conditions. One blowdown on the single-track section, cleared while we were hiking. Decent tread, except for a rocky stretch on the double-track road. No water, other than a few puddles. No signage, beyond the trailhead. Cell signal (T-Mobile) throughout most of the hike.

Flora/Fauna. Lots of wildflowers in bloom all the way, but especially along the single-track section. Tufts of mountain goat hair at Devil's Slide, but no actual goats.

Crowds. Empty trailhead, and didn't see anyone on the way up. Encountered 2 ORV caravans on the way down, and 2 people on motorbikes.

Ethan & I took a hike up the Gold Creek trail on this sunny, mild (up here - 90's in Yakima), windy day.  When we got to the Bald Mtn Road at the top we went right and walked almost as far as Bald Mtn.  The wind was howling up her, but we were able to find a spot for lunch protected by a grove of trees with great views out to Mt Cleman, Nelson Ridge, the Goat Rocks, & Mt Adams.  This trail traverses a number of different habitats so there was a wide variety of wildflowers top to bottom.  If I'd kept a list, it would have rivaled one by AlpsDayTripper.  Most predominant was Common Larkspur and Western Groundsel.  Other flowers of note were Naked Broomrape, Dwarf Hesperochiron, and 2 of the 3 Pygmy Lewisias - Navadensis and Pygmaea.  When we first reached Devil's Slide we saw 2 or 3 mountain goats.  When we got back to the trailhead, I walked a little ways from the car and saw a bear walking through the clearing below me.  And when we were driving down the road someone on a motorbike stopped us to tell us that he had seen a bear on the road about 1/2 mile ahead & also pointed out some deer in the trees where we were stopped.  We only saw one other hiker who was starting out when we were, but this is a motorized area and we saw quite a few ATVs, jeeps, pickups, & SUVs, especially on the Bald Mtn Road.  They did not detract much from the hike, however, and the views of Mt Rainier, Nelson Ridge, the Goat Rocks, & Mt Adams were magnificent.