Distance: 9.2 mi.
Elevation Gain: 3800 ft.
Usually when Craig and I make new friends, it’s because we’ve realized that our current set won’t do any more stupid peakbagging in Mount Rainier National Park with us. So we were happy that we could convince Nancy and Dave to climb this obscure peak.
We parked at the surprisingly busy Fryingpan Creek trailhead and began climbing the Wonderland Trail southward at 9:30 AM. The trail was wide and mellow and we could hike two by two. Shortly after we reached Fryingpan Creek, we had to head off trail to the right (north).
Our climb up to the west ridge of Goat Island Mountain was brushy and frustrating. We mostly stayed on the south side of the ridge, but it looked like you could descend and traverse the basin on the north side also. By the time we got above treeline, it was an easy scramble over to the summit and we reached the summit at 1:30 PM. We didn’t encounter any snow.
We met a group of Mazamas at the summit and all had lunch and traded photo-taking responsibilities. Although it was annoying to reach this summit, it did sport some incredible views of Little Tahoma and Mount Rainier. The mountain had a touch of fresh snow at higher elevations and was blindingly white.
After lunch we descended east of the mountain for a more direct route back down. At first we descended some very soft scree that was easy to plunge through. The peak lived up to its name and we saw a whole herd of mountain goats as we descended the meadows below the summit. If you like spinning in circles and pretending you’re part of The Sound of Music, these meadows will be ideal for you.
As we reached the forested section below the meadows, the slope became very steep. We were frequently sliding down the slippery duff and decaying logs. It probably wasn’t any less frustrating than our ascent route, but it was a little quicker and at least we saw some goats. After a tedious descent we finally found our way back to the trail and made quick work of the remaining hike back out. We finished at 5 PM.
(Download the free Gaia GPS app on your phone to view tracks and then get a Gaia GPS membership if you want offline access. Discount below!)
Recommended brew: Mazama Brewing Mosaic Eruption IPA
Gear Used:
- Day packs
- GPS
- Trail runners
- Trekking poles
Post may contain affiliated links