Trip Date: March 14, 2024
Goat Peak Ski Ascent
Cabin Creek Valley
Cole Creek Valley
Goat Peak (5040+ ft)
Trip Report Summary
Region: Central Washington Cascades
Sub-Region: Kittitas Mountains
Areas: Yakima River Wildlife Area & Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources land & private lands
Starting & Ending Point: Easton Reload Sno-Park at plowed end of Cabin Creek Road #41 (Elev. 2300 feet)
Way Points: Cabin Creek Viewpoint & Cole Creek Bridge & Cabin Creek Road / Cole Creek Road junction & Goat Peak Road / Cole Butte Road junction & Cole Creek culvert & Goat Peak Road fork & Goat Peak Ridge crest & Goat Peak summit (ski tour)
Summit: Goat Peak (ski ascent via West Slope—South Ridge)
Approximate Stats: 11.2 miles traveled; 3100 feet gained & lost.
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Full Trip Report
Yoko and I took advantage of bluebird weather to make a ski ascent of Goat Peak in the Kittitas Mountains. Thanks to its convenient access and lack of avalanche terrain, this forested summit offers a good destination for both backcountry skiers and snowshoers in nearly any snow conditions. The approach roads tend to be overrun by snowmobiles on weekends, but we saw none on this sunny Thursday.
We started at Easton Reload Sno-Park and skied southward on Cabin Creek Road #41, which is very wide, fairly flat, and regularly groomed throughout the winter. In the first mile, it makes a gradual ascent over a low hump that overlooks Cabin Creek, with Cole Butte visible in the distance. The road’s refrozen snow surface necessitated the use of climbing skins despite its gentle gradient.
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Immediately after crossing over Cole Creek on a partially collapsed wooden bridge, we turned left on Cole Creek Road #4100-140 and began skiing up-valley. This road gains elevation at a moderate gradient but was thoroughly “washboarded” by recent snowmobile traffic.
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Upon arriving at a major road junction (1.8 hours + 3.2 miles + 1400 feet from sno-park), we veered leftward on Goat Peak Road and descended a short distance to a culvert crossing of upper Cole Creek. Most snowmobiles veer rightward on Cole Butte Road, which leads to wide open slopes on Cole Butte; as such, our left-hand branch was blanketed with 6 inches of untracked snow.
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Shortly beyond the Cole Creek culvert, we came to a fork in the road. The left fork leads to Cole Valley Overlook below the summit of Goat Peak, whereas the right fork leads to Cole Creek Pond. We took the left fork, which begins with a mile-long traverse across the forested hillslope above Cole Creek.
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The abandoned logging road offers very pleasant travel as it switchbacks up the western flank of Goat Peak. Unfortunately for us, the fresh snow gradually took on the character of an industrial adhesive. Over the next mile, we stopped numerous times to chisel globs of heavy snow off our skins and then apply skin wax or liquid glider, but nothing seemed to help much. It was like skiing with a 5-pound weight on each ankle!
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Our switchbacking ascent eventually took us out of the valley and across a not-so-old clearcut slope that has now become reforested with young, closely spaced trees. Straight ahead, we could see a wall of tall trees marking the edge of this clearcut.
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Upon reaching the edge of the clearcut slope at an elevation of about 4550 feet, our road made a wide switchback and angled up to Cole Valley Overlook. We departed from the road at this switchback and headed due eastward into the old-growth forest, passing a small wooden signboard nailed to a tall tree.
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The forest slope was moderately steep and required lots of tedious zigzagging to work around the trees and under low-hanging branches. Yoko and I agreed that this part of the ascent would be much more expedient on snowshoes rather than skis. On a positive note, the forest snow was not at all sticky.
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We finally gained the crest of Goat Peak’s south ridge at a point only 200 yards from the summit. Ridge crests are oftentimes narrow and convoluted in the winter, but this one is broad, gentle, and truly delightful! An easy jaunt took us to the wooded summit shortly before 2:00pm (4.8 hours + 2950 feet from sno-park).
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Although the summit trees have grown considerably since being logged off a few decades ago, it is still possible to get some nice views by moving around a bit. The Stuart Range and Teanaway Mountains are visible to the northeast; the Snoqualmie Range and Kachess Lake are visible to the northwest; and the marvelously rugged Fifes Peaks are visible to the south.
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Using her avalanche probe, Yoko measured a snow depth of 8 feet on the summit. This is below normal but probably much greater than it was before the recent storm cycles. It was also interesting to find that the old buried crusts have become much weaker in the past couple weeks.
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To descend, we kept our skins on our skis and carefully worked down the forest slope, making numerous traverses and kick-turns through the trees. Yep, snowshoes would have been much faster and easier here. The remainder of our descent went more quickly, but the washboard surface on Cole Creek Road was very annoying—much like water-skiing on the open ocean!
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After reaching Cabin Creek Road, a fast kick-and-glide brought us back to the sno-park at 5:30pm (2.5 hours + 150 feet from summit). We both felt more tired than the mileage and elevation stats would suggest, no doubt due to the heavy snow conditions today, but it was definitely worth all the effort!
Equipment Comments
For our Goat Peak ascent, Yoko and I used medium-width backcountry nordic touring skis that have a fishscale base, full metal edges, and sturdy 75-mm bindings or NNN-BC bindings, combined with compatible touring boots and full-length climbing skins. This setup proved to be a very suitable compromise for the broad range of terrain that we encountered. However, we both felt that snowshoes would have been far more efficient for the final 500 vertical feet of ascent and descent in the deep forest.
Our recommended strategy is to ski up the roads while carrying snowshoes, then stash skis at the high switchback and finish the climb wearing snowshoes. Of course, randonnee (alpine touring, or AT) skis, bindings, and boots would be better able to handle the deep forest, but such equipment would feel much more cumbersome on the flatter portions of the route.
For more information regarding the various equipment that we used for this particular trip and that I typically use for other trips of this type, see my gear reviews on the following pages:
>>> Backcountry Nordic Ski Touring Gear
>>> Backcountry Ski & Snowshoe Packs
>>> Wintertime Comfort Accessories
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