Goat Lake to Snowgrass Flats Loop

We drove to the Berry Patch Trailhead int he Gifford Pinchot National Forest to hike the loop up to Goat Lake via the Goat Ridge Trail, then the Lily Basin Trail to Goat Lake and Snowgrass Flats and the Snowgrass Trail back to the trailhead. About 13 miles with 2,200 ft of overall gain. This route is the Goat Rocks Wilderness. About the first 3 miles of trail is in the forest, but within 2 miles, we started seeing small patches of wildflowers, including these by a small pond off the trail

Shortly before the junction with the Jordan Creek Trail 2 miles from the trailhead, we had a peek a boo view of Mt Rainier.






The trail goes through several small meadows filled with wildflowers, here lupine and bistort. 




We walked through lots of lupine along with paintbrush and lousewort.




Here larkspur were mixed with lupine.






pasqueflower, arnica, heather and lupine






We would walk through a variety of wildflowers in the fields in the forest.





Leaving the forest, we had gorgeous views of Jordan Basin, with many wildflowers growing on these open slopes.





so beautiful!




rosy spirea, arnica and paintbrush






paintbrush, arnica and sitka valerian at the base of these rocky cliffs





wildflowers growing alongside Jordan Creek






lots of lupine and pasqueflower growing on the slope of Goat Ridge, in the far distance, clouds on top of Mt St Helens





We saw several marmots here, but they were too fast for me to get a good photo today.




Almost to the top of Goat Ridge




The Lily Basin Trail between Goat Ridge and Snowgrass Flats is one of my favorite trail sections, abundant wildflowers and gorgeous views. Here the views are from Old Snowy to Mt Adams and Goat Ridge overlooking Lily Basin.

paintbrush, heather and pasqueflowers




dense growth of wildflowers on the slope above us




wildflowers growing on the slopes below us






wildflowers on both sides of the trail




 lupine and phlox as we near Goat Lake




another view of the wildflowers and Mt Adams






Goat Lake still has lots of snow and ice on it. We saw a couple of mountain goats up on the Ridgeline above the lake.



There are some snow patches on the trail near the lake, but they are well packed and we didn't see any snow bridges, except at the outlet of Goat Creek from the lake.



view of Goat Lake from near the outlet




continuing on the Lily Basin Trail




love the vibrant paintbrush






paintbrush mixed in with lupine, beargrass and heather






over two miles of open trail between Goat Lake and Snowgrass Flats




A large field of paintbrush,






followed by a field of beargrass



We crossed several streams flowing down the hillsides full of wildflowers

    and wildflowers continuing down the hillside




The heather was so abundant, the meadow was painted pink. Looking back to the basin holding Goat Lake, with a waterfall tumbling below.

The trail gains a hillside and enters Snowgrass Flats

The Snowgrass Trail is mostly 4 miles through a dense forest, it was nice to be in the shade! Here we passed a bog filled with bog orchids. We would see penstamen, lupine, monkshood, wintergreen and other flowers as well.



Corn lily in bloom as we passed a field of flowers on the equestrian trail connecting to the Berry Patch Trailhead.





some of the wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today:     

         

 

    

  

  

 

Ipsut Falls

Drove up to the Carbon River Entrance of Mt Rainier National Park to hike up to Ipsut Falls (10.8 miles round trip with 800 ft of gain). This past winter the Carbon River eroded  a section of the road before the entrance to less than 1/2 a lane. Parking is now along both sides of the road before this section.

The first 5 miles to Ipsut Campground is along the now defunct Carbon River Road, with a section washed away some years ago. This trail is in the temperate rainforest, so there is lots of lovely moss, ferns and tall trees.

About a mile up the road, we saw some ghost pipe

             and some thimbleberries that were not quite ripe.

About 3 miles up the road, there is a nice view looking up the Carbon River, the river is flowing fast, and we could here the rocks tumbling under the water.

Where the road was washed away some years ago, some hikers have placed boards across this side tributary of the Carbon River, there is a higher board crossing a bit upstream leading back to the road/trail. On the way up, we opted to go through the woods, off trail, rather than cross these boards. Coming back, I did cross on the boards and they felt steady then.

Another spot along the road where we could see the Carbon River.

some fireweed in bloom

Just before Ipsut Campground, the road had been washed away and we crossed on this bridge.

The old ranger cabin at Ipsut Campground. In the past, before the Carbon River had taken out portions of the road, this had been a front country campground, so there are picnic tables and bear boxes at the campsites.

After walking through the campground, it is a short 0.3 miles to see Ipsut Falls, there are several bridges along this short section.

some tall pine drops

another bridge over a lovely stream

large patch of twinflowers covering the forest floor like a carpet

This last bridge on the way to Ipsut Falls had a lot of bounce to it!

Ipsut Creek, the falls are in the distance

Wasn't able to get close to the falls, as the shoreline narrows and has lots of boulders. We took a lunch break along this pretty pool.

The short (300 ft) turn off to Ipsut Falls was only 0.1 mile from this section of the Wonderland Trail, where I had hiked 2 summers ago. I couldn't resist hiking up and "connecting" to this part of the trail before returning to the car.

Rainforest Loop Trail

Arrived early for a hike with friends for a hike along the closed Carbon River Road at Mt Rainier National Park and decided to do the short 0.3 Rainforest Loop Trail.

The Carbon River as eroded the road right before the entrance to the park to less than 1/2 a lane. Parking is now along both sides of the road before entering the park.

This trail is located at the beginning of the Boundary Trail and is all in the temperate rainforest. There are a couple of boardwalk sections.

There were both ripe red huckleberry bushes and ripe blue huckleberry bushes alongside the trail.

Lots of moss and ferns and tall trees.

Some downfall has covered the trail, and a footpath leads through the brush to the bridge.

A sign at the trailhead warned that the bridge halfway along the loop was out. I was able to walk across on the top of one of the rails.

small creek