The forecast was for rain in Western Washington, so we headed to the east side of the Cascades. We choose Goat Peak off of Hwy 410 on the east side of Mt Rainier. There are 4 different trails to Goat Peak, we picked #959 the Goat Creek Trail off of Bumping River Road. This trail is 11 miles round trip with 3,400 ft of elevation gain.
The trails starts in the woods, with a short flat section before climbing up the south side of American Ridge.
At about 1.5 miles and 900 ft of elevation gain the trail enters a clearing and we began to see the small peaks to the south, Mount Aix is seen between the trees ( photo on right below).
At 4 miles the trail joins the American Ridge Trail, the way to Goat Peak is to the right. The next mile of trail is a more gentle gain. While the trail was on the south side of the ridge line, we could see Mt Adams to the south. When the trail moved to the north side of the ridge line, we had great views of Mt Rainier and Fife's Ridge.
The last 1/2 mile is a steep series of switchbacks climbing 500 ft to the summit.
We had lots of opportunities to stop and take pictures of wildflowers along the way.
A short distance before the summit, this rocky out cropping provides great views of Bumping Lake and in the far distance Mt Adams.
This Forest Service marker is at the top of Goat Peak.
Panorama View from south to east to north:
Mount Aix, Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, Fife's Ridge
Panorama View from north to east:
Fife's Ridge, peaks at Snoqualmie Pass, the Stuart Range
View from the top looking down to Bumping Lake, Mt Adams to the left of my sisters.
View from the top, Mt Rainier to the right of my sisters.
We had to protect our lunches from the chipmunks.
Butterflies:
Heading back down the trail
Some of the many wildflowers we saw today:
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