Sept 17, 2019 Jolene and I embarked on our First unsupervised Backpacking Adventure. We decided on Snowgrass Flat and Goat Lake Loop in the Pinochet National Forest.
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On our first adventure; Curly Creek to Lower Falls, a 20 mile out and back (easy rated) we were joined by my husband Scott. This time it was just us hitting the trails and hiking a 12+ loop that is rated difficult. And it was wonderful!
After reviewing the AllTrails comments we decided to do our trek in reversed from the suggested route. We chose to start at Berry Patch trailhead and conquer the heavy uphill on day one and the the more gentle downhill on day two. The biggest drawback we knew we might face going in reverse was finding a campsite with a good water source along Berry Patch. AllTrails showed a couple but until we reached them we wouldn't know if they were usable or not. And if they weren't our 4+ mile uphill on day one could potentially turn into a 7+ uphill.
Our original plan was to started looking for a water source and campsite at mile 4. We were hoping to set up camp, slip on our day packs and hike up to Goat Ridge to watch the Sunset over Mt. Adams that night. We would then night hike back to camp and hike to Goat Lake and out the following day.
Plan made; Jolene was at my house bright and early 4:30 am Saturday morning. We loaded my truck with our gear and headed to Berry Patch trailhead. It was a little over a 2.5 hour drive on freeway and highways then another hour or so on dirt roads. By 7 am we reached the parking lot off Berry Patch and by 7:30 we were on our way!
Almost from the very start we hit uphill. And in places it was very uphill; buying hiking poles was one of the best decisions I made this year! For the first hour or so it felt like we were the only ones on the trail, but as the morning got brighter day hikers, trail runners and more experience backpackers started passing us. Yes! We laughed! Two 50+ ladies chugging along uphill with 40+ packs! We are Awesome! Just before we reached the area where we were hoping to find a campsite, we ran into tow gentlemen coming down Berry Patch. They told us about a campsite they had just left, it was on the Snowgrass side of Goat Lake and just outside the no-fire zone. We both decided worse case we would hike up to Goat Lake and find that site. Campsite anxiety alleviated. We were feeling great, we hadn't found a good water source yet, we'd done 3+ miles already and we were still rolling; How hard could another 3+ be? Extremely hard actually!
We hit narrow, rocky trails, switchbacks that seemed to go o for ever, and endless trails that simply went up. As we slowed down it seemed like the day hikers, runners and experienced backpacker sped up. We were being left in the dust! By mile 5, we started to seriously look for a campsite. We started looking up game trails into areas we thought might be good sties. Every time we found one someone else had found it first, the I'm getting older feeling started to set in, a feeling I am not fond of in the least. By time we made it to the cut off to Goat Ridge and the trail headed down we were exhausted, fatigued and a little cranky. Maybe we should have snacked a little more along the way? We finally made our way up and over our last ridge and there it was Goat Lake! Spectacular!
Goat Lake! The first think that struck me was how amazing a Natural Lake truly is. I fills a small gully surrounded by spectacular cliffs and is the most beautiful glacier melt color of teal. Well worth the hike up just to get a rare personal view of it.
We spent some time relaxing, enjoying the view and contemplating the history and making of the Lake. After recharging we reluctantly put our packs back on and started our trek down Snowgrass with high hopes of finding the campsite we'd been told about earlier in the day. Within a 30+ minutes of hiking we found the no-fire zone sign and sure enough there was a game trail just past it. I hiked up, and there it was! We ere overjoyed, relived and pretty much impressed with ourselves.
We set up camp, hiked back towards the lake for water then sat down and enjoyed an early dinner.
Our original plan was to hike to Goat Ridge. However, the thought of retracing our steps and knowing what those step would look like we decided to day hike to a point on Snowgrass that intersects with the PCT.
We got back to camp just before dark. We'd hoped to have a small fire but the firewood near us was nonexistent. We saw plenty of firewood farther down Snowgrass on our way to PCT and several campsites. Next year: We will camp a little farther away from the no-fire zone!
Our night was uneventful and eventful at the same time, more so for me. The site we picked had tow tent spots. Jolene took the lower site and I took the one just up the hill. Mine was a little more opened wit less tree cover but a bit bigger. Jolene has a single tent, mine is a double. That night around 1 am the wind started blowing. I'm sure it wasn't as bad as I believed at the time it was. I was positive my tent was about to take flight and I would end up somewhere other than my campsite. After a hour or so the wind died down and the rain started. We had planned for rain, my tent did and great and no water seeped in. I was finally able to settle my mind and over active imagination and fall back to sleep. I was pleased and surprise at how well I slept on the hard ground, in a tent, with the threat of tent flight as well as wild goats and chipmunks.
Morning came and I prepared myself for the body aches and pains that I was sure I'd feel after my long day of hiking and sleeping on the ground. I had non! I actually felt great! It was still raining from the night before and continued raining the entire day. We decided we'd look at the rain as something we would eventually have to deal with if backpacking was something we were going to do; so we embraced it! We broke camp, fired up our jetboils for coffee and breakfast, did our best to keep our gear and selves dry, put our packs back on and headed down Snowgrass Flats trail back to Berry Patch trailhead.
We got soaked. We crossed large streams that we just step over trickles the day before and the dry trail was now muddy and slick. Once again! Thank You hiking poles! We also congratulated ourselves on our decision to do the steep uphill. Steep downhill would have been brutal in the rain. The hike down was shorter and easier but seemed to take as long as the hike the day before. Possibly because of the rain, maybe because we did get lost twice or maybe because we were in no hurry to get back.
Once back at Berry Patch trailhead lot we unloaded our gear, changed into dry cloths and headed home. On the drive back we both decided it was a very successful First Time Adventure and that we would definitely do it again. In fact we have decided to make Snowgrass Flat and Goat Lake loop a yearly tradition. Goat lake will be seeing us yearly for many years to come.
I love this First Time Adventure, I hope to continue backpacking for many more years. At 54 I'm planning on doing at least 2 trips a year and hopefully more for the next 15-20 years. The places that are now opened to me and the wonders I can see are endless. The next chapter of my life I will be seeing and experiencing life with a new hobby and seeing things in a different way.
Thank you Jolene for experiencing this FTA with me.
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