April 24, 2004
East Goat Peak Snowshoe Climb
Goat Mountain Viewpoint
Goat Mountain Saddle
Goat Mountain: east peak aka East Goat Peak (6891 ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: Northwestern Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Nooksack Mountains
Area: Mt. Baker Wilderness
Starting & Ending Point: Goat Mountain Trailhead on Ruth Creek Road #32 (Elev. 2480 feet)
Way Points: Goat Mountain Viewpoint & Goat Mountain Shoulder & Goat Mountain Saddle (trail hike & snow hike & snowshoe climb)
Summit: East Goat Peak (ascent & descent via West Ridge—South Face)
Approximate Stats: 9 miles traveled; 4800 feet gained & lost; 5.4 hours up; 3.1 hours down.
Related Post
>>> Goat Mtn: West Peak via South Ridge – May 29, 2010
Full Trip Report
Goat Mountain is a double-peaked massif located straight across the North Fork Nooksack River valley from the Mt. Baker Ski Area. The dome-shaped west peak bears a triangulated elevation of 6725 feet on the new 7½-minute topo map. The arrowhead-shaped east peak wasn’t triangulated for this map, but older 15-minute maps put its summit at 6891 feet.
Jon, Megan, Janet, Mike, and I parked alongside the Hannegan Pass Road on Saturday morning and started hiking up the Goat Mountain Trail. This is a well-graded and pleasant old trail that apparently will be getting some maintenance work soon, judging by all the survey stakes. We stayed on bare trail until encountering the snowline at 4000 feet and then simply booted directly up soft snow slopes to the popular viewpoint on the west peak’s obvious shoulder at 5400 feet.
- Booting Up Lower Slopes
Although the weather forecast promised a clearing trend, dark clouds obscured all distant views from what otherwise must be a great vantage point. Fortunately, we could see our objective, the east peak, sitting about 1 mile away and looking very desirable indeed.
- Goat Mountain East Peak (photo by Jon)
This necessitated a long traverse over to the broad saddle between the two peaks. Mike made the first move by donning his snowshoes and charging across the slightly mushy slope. The rest of us quickly followed suit.
After a long traverse, with several ups and downs to cross minor ribs, we arrived about 100 feet above the saddle and then dropped into it. From this saddle, the terrain gets markedly steeper, so we ditched our snowshoes and poles in favor of ice axes.
- East Goat Peak From Ridge Saddle
We ascended the east peak’s scalloped west ridge for 400 feet before cutting right on a diagonal ascent across the open southwest face. Slope angles ranged from about 40 to 50 degrees but snow conditions were perfect for kicking steps. We eventually intersected the peak’s southeast ridge, on which we then scrambled about 100 feet of snowy heather to the summit.
- Megan, Jon, Janet, and Mike On East Goat Peak Summit
Even though it was mid-afternoon, the weather and visibility had not improved at all. We slowly ate our summit lunches in the thin fog, hoping to stall long enough for at least some of the promised clearing to begin. Mike entertained himself by trying to determine exactly where he could dig down and find a summit register. The rest of us chided his misguided confidence as he excavated a 3-foot-deep pit down to rock, without results, but then he badgered me into enlarging the pit for him.
After this futile digging exercise, I decided to leave some more of Laura’s ashes on the now-exposed summit rocks. Goat Mountain’s position in these northwestern Cascades seemed a suitable counterpoint to Big Lou Mountain’s position in the central-eastern Cascades. Although this informal ritual may have momentarily put a somber mood over our summit group, the sequence of events that unfolded during the next several hours could be described as anything ranging from fortuitous to miraculous. I personally like to interpret it as Laura simply expressing approval of her new home.
Just before we started our descent, Mike stepped into the snow pit and scratched around one last time for the elusive summit register. Well, luck was with him (although he still insists that it was pure logic) because he immediately found not one but TWO registers! The first, a small pvc tube, contained a few sheets that had been placed by Fay Pullen in 2002.
The other, a larger pvc tube, contained a thick roll of paper that Dallas Kloke and seven friends had left in 2001 to commemorate his 40th anniversary in the mountains. Dallas’ register briefly described his June 1961 ascent of this peak—his first mountain climb ever—using $20 boots and a homemade ice axe. Sadly, the tube had leaked and the register paper was a soggy mess. I decided to carry it down and transfer it to waterproof paper, thinking that I will revisit this summit before too long.
Still feeling elated and amazed at Mike’s discovery, we began our descent. The excellent snow quality turned the steep downclimb into a delightful heel plunge, and soon we were back at the saddle.
- Descending Goat Shoulder (photo by Jon)
In the meantime, the skies had begun to clear, giving ever-increasing views of the awesome Nooksack Mountains. A huge curtain was rising to reveal Shuksan, Baker, and their entire entourage.
- Mt Shuksan and Goat Shoulder (photo by Jon)
Despite being in a hurry to reach the town of Glacier by dinnertime, we couldn’t help but stop frequently to take photographs. The gentle rays of the late-afternoon sun highlighted every feature on every mountain and cast a magical spell on us!
Our slow, “shutterbugging” descent put us back at the trailhead with very little time to drive down to Glacier. But lady-luck beamed on us once again, as we made it to Milano’s Restaurant scant minutes before closing time. In the bustling restaurant, we enjoyed delicious pasta dinners that put a fine cap on our splendid day.
Equipment Comments
For more information regarding the various equipment that I used for this particular trip and that I typically use for this type of trip, see my gear reviews on the following pages:
>>> Trail & Mountain Snowshoes
>>> Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Packs
>>> Wintertime Comfort Accessories
Photo Gallery
Click to enlarge…
