Goat Rocks Wilderness - Day 1

After some nice time in Seattle, Shannon and I were feeling rested up and our feet were healed up for another long backpacking trip.  This time, we picked a 3 day trip into the Goat Rocks Wilderness, an area South of Mt. Rainier.  We hadn't explored much of this mountain zone so it would all be new for us!  Nice!

Our first day started out like so many hikes in the Cascades... you've got to earn your views...

But we put the work in and a few hours (and miles) later we rolled our way into beautiful Palmer Basin.

We continued up and out of the Basin and had our first views of the Goat Rocks Massif itself. 

 

The trail turned a corner and we came running into Goat Lake.  We were more than a little surprised to discover a snow covered lake... in the middle of August.  Get yourself together Goat Lake... it's summer.  I can't imagine how cold and snow laden this place must be in winter to have this much snow now (at less than 7000 feet!).

 

A great campsite revealed itself and we spent the afternoon enjoying watching Mountain Goats on the hillside (I guess the lake is aptly named) and checking out views of Mt. Adams distant from our tent.  Our first day was packed with views and we couldn't wait for tomorrow's trek.