Snowgrass Flat, Snowgrass - Cispus Basin - Nannie Ridge Loop & Goat Lake — Monday, Jul. 29, 2024

My first time in Goat Rocks did NOT disappoint! Wildflowers are absolutely everywhere (I ID’d 18 different kinds and I’m sure there are more). The paintbrush in particular seems to be peaking right now. Did the Snowgrass Flats loop clockwise from Berry Patch trailhead:

Day 1: Berry Patch to Goat Lake. Our group of 3 left the TH around 11:30 Friday morning. Plenty of cars but no issues finding a spot. The initial climb through the forest is nice and shaded, with some peekaboo views of Rainier in places. Some sections in the woods are EXTREMELY buggy. Coming out onto the ridge to the west, there are fields and fields of wildflowers. We went over the ridge and on to Goat Lake where the flower show continues and views of Mt Adams are in your face! As of now the lake is still almost completely covered in ice. A few snowfields to cross (see photo) but we managed fine without spikes (as did the others we saw). We camped about a half mile past the lake on the ridge trail, following a boot path up to the left near a patch of trees. There are *plenty* of nice sites further along the ridge too if you want to avoid the groups right by the lake. Total today was about 6 chill miles, arriving at camp around 5ish.

Day 2: we took a leisurely morning and then ditched our bags at camp to go back around Goat Lake and up the Lily Basin trail to Hawkeye Ridge. Took me (the slowest) under two hours to get to the false summit from our camp - it’s a big climb but the views are amazing. Even with some smoke/haze we could see Rainier, Adams, and St Helens. It’s another ~300 feet up to the true summit but there is a steep snowfield to cross to get there. It looked too sketchy for me so I stayed at the false summit enjoying the view while two others with more snow confidence continued on and seemed to manage fine with poles. Took a very cold dip in Goat Lake on the way back, made colder by all the wind! The snowfields around the lake were slushier this day than the day before, so I suspect melting quickly in the full sun.

Day 3: Goat Lake to Cispus Basin. A very windy night cleared all the smoke out and we had great views following the ridge trail out. Saw a few marmots hanging out on the rock fields. At the junction of Lily Basin and Snowgrass trails, we took the Snowgrass Trail east up another ridge (rather than towards the trailheads) until it connects with the PCT. Stopped for a snack to admire the views at the junction of wildflower meadows and Mt. Adams. We took the PCT south/east into Cispus Basin and camped about a mile east of the junction with the Bypass Trail. There are plenty of sites along the PCT in the basin. This was about 5 miles from our site at Goat Lake and took us about 3-3.5 hours with stops. We dropped our bags and continued on the PCT further into the basin until we got to a big waterfall (Cispus River, I think) with views straight down into the valley. Saw way fewer people on the PCT trail section, maybe just because it was a Sunday though. Shoutout to the thruhiker we met, you’re doing great!!

Day 4: Cispus Basin to Berry Patch TH. Woke up to Cispus Basin totally socked in - grateful for the views of the previous few days! Took us about 3.5 hours to do the 6+ miles back to Berry Patch, via the PCT, Bypass Trail, and Snowgrass Trail. We found it easy to navigate the intersections with signage and a map. The switchbacks on this section of Snowgrass have a bunch of ripe blueberries and lots more ripening in the coming weeks! The last 0.6 miles turning off the main Snowgrass to the horse trail leading back to Berry Patch is somewhat overgrown - we got soaked from the rain on all the brush.

You could definitely condense this into one or two nights, but I loved having the extra time to soak up such a special place!