Beginner Backpacking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington

In an effort to get more young folks into the wilderness, we're offering adults 18-35 years old a full $300 off this trip. Visit our scholarships page for details on how to apply.

The Trip

Have you always wanted to learn to backpack but never had a chance? If so, then this is the trip for you. On this 25-30 mile trek, you'll learn the basics of backpacking as you hike in the high alpine country of the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Goat Rocks is located in the Cascade Mountains just east of Mt. Rainier. As we hike the beautiful trails of the wilderness, we'll have views of three of our largest volcanoes: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. St. Helens. A portion of our hike will be on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at some of its highest and most spectacular points in Washington. Our route will take us through dense forests and high lush meadows, along sparkling creeks and above the treeline through high alpine country. During our time together, we'll take in some of the highlights of the Goat Rocks Wilderness including Snowgrass Flats, Old Snowy Mountain, Cispus Pass, the Packwood Glacier, and the appropriately named Goat Lake where mountain goats frequent the surrounding cliffs. We will enjoy abundant wildflowers, lovely campsites, and the company of other outdoor enthusiasts. There will be a layover day to enjoy a day hike without heavy packs or for relaxing in camp. Journals will also be provided for evening journaling from each day’s experience, which could include flora identification and animal sightings. 

Day 1: We will meet at 1:00 p.m. in the small town of Packwood, Washington. From Packwood we’ll caravan to an established campsite at Walupt Lake for our first night. At camp we will discuss some basics of the trip, review gear, distribute the commissary, and weigh packs. We will leave most of the cars at the lake, which is our trail end at 4,600 feet.

Day 2: Today we will get an early start and carpool to our trailhead at Berry Patch. We will have a steady four-mile uphill trek up Goat Ridge to our first night's camp at 6,400 feet.

Day 3: We will continue up and over Goat Pass and drop down to Goat Lake at 6,500 feet, then continue on to Snowgrass Flat for our camp at 5,700 feet -- a trek of around five miles.

Day 4: This is our layover day in the high country. Weather permitting, we will day hike north on the PCT to Old Snowy Mountain, 7,880 feet, enjoying great views of all three big mountains. It'll be a round-trip hike of about six miles. Or one can relax in our beautiful camp area.

Day 5: We will pack up and head south on the PCT for a four-mile day, reaching Cispus Pass Basin at 6,200 feet and our camp with a huge territorial view.

Day 6: We will break camp and head over Cispus Pass at 6,500 feet to our camp at Sheep Lake at 5,700 feet. We will have great close-up views of beautiful Mt. Adams.

Day 7: On our last day of the trek we will be up early and hike down Nannie Ridge to our cars at Walupt Lake. It'll be a steady downhill hike of six miles to arrive shortly after noon. We will drive toward Packwood, stopping to pick up the cars at the entry trailhead. We will continue into town and all gather for our celebratory lunch and farewells.

On a typical day, we will rise at 7:00 a.m., eat a hearty breakfast, break camp, and start hiking by 9:00 a.m. The leaders like to take a measured but steady approach to backpacking.  We aren’t trying to set speed records; rather, we want go at a moderate pace so that we can take time to appreciate and relish the beautiful mountain scenery while making steady progress toward camp. We will generally arrive at camp in the afternoon with plenty of time to set up tents, clean up, journal, and do some exploring.

Getting There

We'll meet in the small town of Packwood, WA and caravan to an established camp at Walupt Lake for our first night. We will leave most of the cars at Walupt Lake and carpool a few miles to our trailhead the next morning. The Seattle/Tacoma (SEATAC) airport is 95 miles (approximately 2½ hours) from Packwood. The small town of Packwood and Goat Rock Wilderness are on the east side of Mt. Rainier. The leaders encourage ride sharing and will provide information about other participants who are interested in ride sharing to the Goat Rocks Wilderness. Please do not make travel arrangements until the leader has confirmed you as a trip member.

Accommodations and Food

All meals are included from dinner on the first day through having a late lunch the last day at a small café in Packwood. The cooking and cleanup of the meals, in the Sierra Club National Outings way, will be shared by rotating cook crews of participants. Meals include hearty, healthy, and varying breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. Everyone will carry a portion of the food and cooking equipment (commissary). The leaders will work hard to make the weight of the food as light as possible to lessen the loads in our packs. All meals will accommodate vegetarians.

Water for drinking will come from the streams and lakes in the Wilderness. Chlorine-based tablets will be provided to each participant for treating the water.

Each night will be spent in the backcountry, thus the accommodations are your own cozy tent and warm sleeping bag.

Trip Difficulty

This trip is rated 2 (Light/Moderate), however backpacking by its nature is a strenuous activity. Total required mileage is from 25-30 miles, gaining and losing 6,000-7,000 feet of elevation. Most of our days will be from 4-8 miles, and we will be hiking at altitudes from 3,000 to 7,500 feet. While this mileage may seem low, our route will be punctuated with several steep sections. 

The Cascades in summer should be sunny and warm. However, these are large mountains, often with unpredictable weather. Rain, snow, and thunderstorms are possible at any time. Temperatures can reach into the 80s during the day and dip into the 30s at night.

While this is a beginner's backpacking trip, to enjoy it you must be an experienced hiker capable of hiking several miles a day and carrying a 40- pound pack. Good physical conditioning and a flexible attitude are essential. The minimum age for participants is 18. To fully participate in this trip a commitment to a regular aerobic training program with pack weight for two months before the trip is highly recommended.

Equipment and Clothing

The Sierra Club provides the cooking gear, food, water purification, and a first-aid kit for emergencies. You are responsible for everything else that you want or need. We will distribute the gear and food provided by the Club, approximately 12-13 pounds per person, at the start of the trip. Each participant will need to carry a provided bear canister for our food. The group gear and the bear canister will be about the size of two 1-gallon milk jugs. You must keep the total weight for your personal gear below 25 pounds and make sure your backpack has enough capacity for the extra gear. 

The leaders will provide you with an extensive equipment list, including essential items such as backpack, shelter, sleeping pad, sleeping bag rated to 30 degrees, raingear, and personal first aid. You will also need boots that are well broken-in but not broken down. The list will also include optional items, such as camera and reading material. As you prepare for the trip, we will be happy to help you navigate the process of selecting and organizing gear.

References

Books:

• Barstad, Fred, Hiking Washington's Goat Rocks Country. A Falcon Guide, The Globe Pequot Press, 2005.
• Curtis, Rick, The Backpacker’s Field Manual. Three Rivers Press, 1998.

Maps:

• Greentrails 15 minute series, Packwood #302, White Pass #303, Blue Lake #334, Walupt Lake #335.
• US Forest Service: Goat Rocks Wilderness and Tatoosh Wilderness.
• U.S.G.S. 7.5-minute topographical maps have all the detail. Our route will be along these 4 quadrangles: Old Snowy Mountain, Walupt Lake, Hamilton Buttes, and a small corner of Packwood Lake.

Websites:

• http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/recreation/wilderness/wilderness-goat-rocks.shtml

Conservation

The Goat Rocks Wilderness is located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the oldest national forest in the United States. Although the wilderness is protected by law, conservation concerns have increased in the past two decades because of challenges due to global warming, wildfires, the threats to wildlife habitat preservation, logging, and other issues related to forest ecosystems. We’ll discuss what wilderness protection means, how it can be improved and the important role we all can play in its protection. Sierra Club outings were started by John Muir in 1901. Muir wrote "if people could be got into the woods, even for once, to hear the trees speak for themselves, all difficulties in the way of forest preservation would vanish." We hope that your experience in the Goat Rocks Wilderness will give you a renewed understanding of the need to protect these unspoiled wilderness areas.

We will follow the Leave No Trace wilderness ethic, and we will emphasize careful stewardship of the environment as we hike and camp.

Sierra Club National Outings is an equal-opportunity provider and when applicable will operate under permits obtained from U.S. federal land agencies.