OK! There are some heavy topics bouncing around in my brain, but for today, we're going to take a break and do a bit of a travelog! I spent the last four days traveling around the state of Washington, going on two major hikes with the Mazamas Mountaineering organization. The first was a scenic hike of Goat Rock, located in the central cascades, in Washington. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goat_Rocks_Wilderness. This hike was billed as one of the most beautiful I'd ever go on, which was a high bar, but it delivered. I did the hike with the Adventurous Young Mazamas, which is the youth branch of Mazamas. There were 8 of us all settled in for a 12.8 mile loop hike, with about 2500 feet change in elevation. The weather was cold and foggy, which turned out to be just perfect. The night before we camped at the Berrypatch Trailhead. My car was 3 guys (including me) who had never met before, and we got along excellently (thanks, Kevin and Chris!). We couldn't find the rest of the group so ended up camping on our own, but we caught up with them in the morning and headed out about 10 am. I don't have particular memories of the beginning and end of the hike; it's the middle 5-6 miles that were truly spectacular. Arriving into a caldera, you hike up the broken side of the wall which descends into a long, green valley, strewn with rocks. With the day being so foggy and cold it was hard not to be reminded of the Irish countryside. It would be easy to shoot footage in there and use it for Scotland, or Wales. The hike gets its name from the mountain goats in the area, but by the time we reached the lake about 8 miles in, we hadn't seen any. The lake itself is magnificent; nestled in the caldera itself, it was a greenish tint, surrounded by a layer of fog. We camped and ate on rocks along the shore. It rained on us, briefly, but we soldiered on. Then, we turned a corner - and there they were! About 20 goats, all ranged over about 200 metres of land, totally unconcerned with our presence. They're big! And very wild, fur flinging this way and that. Actually pretty majestic, which is not something I think of for goats. Moving on a little further, we interrupted a marmot camp, and found ourselves surrounded by about 8-10 of them, arranged around us. They really look like a cross between big cats and ferrets, and they're awesome when they stand on hind legs to eat the flowers. We also saw pika, and deer. The hike was great and the company even better.
Two days later, I went on an official Mazamas climb (I was encouraged to note the difference between hikes and climbs), of Hidden Lake Peak. This was another magnificent climb, although very different. It was really warm, and brilliantly sunny. We spent the first few miles hiking up through fields of wildflowers, dense colors along the trail. Then we emerged abruptly into rocks and clambered up the rest of the way to a view of the lake. My favorite part was actually a cabin which had been built at the top of the mountain, where I ended up taking a blissful 30 minute nap after the 40+ hours of driving I'd done. It's the first time I had ever slept on a bed at the top of a mountain. I sincerely hope it will not be the last. The cabin was amazing to me because it was a labor of love; a community effort that had lasted all these years. It wasn't an "official" cabin or camp, and it wasn't run by the Forest Service; they tolerated it, but it was maintained by volunteers. I want to go back.
The trip was long and exhausting, but it was absolutely 100% worth it. Enjoy the pictures!
