This is a trip report for the Gotchen Creek Meadows via Gotchen Creek Trail hike (not the loop around the A.G. Aiken Lava Bed)
The weather wasn't looking hopeful anywhere else in the big Cascade volanoes around Portland, so we opted for the south side of Mount Adams. The weather called for 58°F and partly cloudy in Trout Lake, so the intention was to hike the Shorthorn Trail to the South Climb Trail, making a loop via the RTM trail and FR 8040-500. But as soon as we got to the trailhead, the weather turned sour and hiking through burned forest in windy/rainy weather didn't seem like the best idea, so we decided to head further east.
Hike Statistics:
- Weather: Sun, rain, wind, snow, and clouds.
- Distance: 10.2 miles
- Elevation Gain: 2249 feet
We decided to hike up to Gotchen Creek Meadows via the Snipes Mountain Trail. This trail follows the east side of the A.G. Aiken Lava Bed (and follows Gotchen Creek–but not the same trail as the Gotchen Creek Trail on the west side of the lava bed, by the way). The trail starts out in a dry forest before immediately heading into the burn. The forest along this trail was burned in the 2008 Cold Springs Fire, the 2012 Cascade Creek Fire, and the 2015 Cougar Creek Fire (some of which overlap). This side of the mountain was sunny, but just on the other side of the A.G. Aiken Lava Bed it was cloudy and raining. What a difference a few miles makes. The trail following the lava bed. Tons of dried up fireweed wildflowers though. Hike this trail in wildflower season to seen them in bloom; it looks like the fireweed makes for quite a show!
The trail hugged the side of the A.G. Aiken Lava Bed. I believe it is the tallest (clearly visible and recent) lava flow on Mount Adams, at least compared to the Tahk Takh, Mutton Creek, and Muddy Fork flows). ven behind the lava bed and some pesky clouds, the view of the mountain was nothing short of spectacular. It was sure great to be back on Mount Adams after so long this year.
The weather on this hike varied from sun, sun and rain, wind, and snow (twice at the meadow, though non-sticking). Somewhere in the middle here we passed the junction with the Pine Way Trail.
About halfway to the meadow, the trail started to open up as it crossed over a small "saddle" or ridgeline. From here on it was much more open with wide views to the east and south. While most of the fall color along this hike was the dried up grass, there were a few bright yellow bushes as well as some recovering quaking aspen groves. Even though the forest was all burned, the stark contrast between the black and white trees against the blue sky was beautiful in it's own way.
After a few miles, the trail enters a green, transitioning montane to subalpine forest before reaching the Gotchen Creek Meadows complex.
Soon we passed a gate that was supposed to keep cattle off of the meadows... Unfortunately the whole fence is broken and burned to the ground and the forest service nor the Yakama Reservation has fixed it, so the cattle have spilled into the nearby meadows, including Gotchen Creek Meadows and the famous Bird Creek Meadows. The damage is absolutely terrible, both aesthetically and environmentally.
After a short while hiking through forest and crossing Gotchen Creek several times, the trail crossed the creek once more before entering the first of several meadows under the Gotchen Creek Meadows title. The second meadow had some fall color on display. The third meadow—the "main" meadow (with a campsite), has the best views of Mount Adams. Here, Gotchen Creek winds around in a classic meandering snake pattern. We walked out into the center of the meadow to get a view of the mountain. The clouds rolled over the mountain over the course of the next hour. This is as clear as it got, but the clouds added for some extra drama!
During our stay, I recorded a timelapse of the clouds rolling over the mountain. I had two cameras taking a timelapse, as my DSLR was also recording a different timelapse of the mountain (taken in individual images that haven't been processed yet).
Note: Sorry if this trip report sounds a little bit "choppy" or odd. I just copied it over from my trip report on Oregon Hikers, and did some light editing to it. See the Oregon Hikers trip report link (1st link below) for more photos and a more in-depth trip report.
See the MyHikes link (2nd link) for a downloadable GPS track and an in-depth hiking guidebook entry (written by me) with more photos.
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