Puzzlr and I had a great day out yesterday on this peak we've both been wanting to do for several years. Most trips up this one I've heard about start from Cougar Ck and are done with snow cover to to avoid the brush found on the lower slopes. We decided to try a shorter approach devised by puzzlr heading directly up from Lennox Ck.
We parked about 1/2 mile before the Bare Mtn TH and easily hopped across Lennox Ck on rocks. The route starts off in dense but mostly open forest with occasional blowdown.
After several hundred feet of climbing we finally found the brush the mountain is known for. Fortunately the devil's club was minimal but mature huckleberry bushes were thick for much of the route. We endured this exhausting work for about 2000' of climbing until breaking out into open meadows above 4400' to our great relief. The route from here is scenic and easy walking on slabs and heather to the summit at 5580.'
Goat Mtn from Bare Mtn Nov 30, 2012
Much of the first 2500' looks like this.
Breaking out to open meadows above 4400.'
Views north to Bare, Lennox and Canoe.
The summit of Goat Mtn.
Goat Mtn Lake.
Puzzlr below the summit of Goat Mtn.
Last bit to the top.
Looking north from near summit.
Puzzlr on Goat Mtn 5580.'
The ridge we walked up.
Meadow on the south side of Goat Mtn.
Rooster Mtn.
Garfield Mtn.
At the summit we decided to stroll down to a meadowy bench on the south side of Goat where Puzzlr hoped to get a view down to Honey Lake.
We dropped down to the meadow on the south side of Goat Mtn for a bit of exploring.
Boomerang and Twin Peaks.
Twin Peaks.
Goat Mtn from the south.
Dog Mtn.
After a while it was time to head back down and contend with the brush which was much easier while descending.
Puzzlr on the way down.
Scenic ridge walking.
Puzzlr's diving board.
Crossing Lennox Ck is a breeze in late season.
This route offers a quick and direct way up Goat but a few hours of brush bashing are required. The payoff above 4500' is worth the sweat though. If a manageable crossing of Lennox Ck can be found, it would make a good winter or spring trip as well.
8.5 hours RT.
I did the same thing a couple years ago but angled over to the lake. Its a great area.
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
nice. I pondered the possibility of your route this spring as I walked past it on the blocked road to the cougar creek approach. 2,000 ft of blueberries hmmm. Maybe I'll stick to the Cougar creek approach!
. 2,000 ft of blueberries hmmm. Maybe I'll stick to the Cougar creek approach!
I probably made it sound worse than it is in reality. It took us 3 hours to get from the car to the top of the brush and into meadows and we were not moving very fast. Most sections of brush are waist high but there are some neck high parts too which are the crux of the hike. Fortunately there isn't much of that and with snow cover the brush could be avoided entirely. Of course the difficulty will be getting across Lennox Ck.
I'll echo RichP's sentiments about seeing Goat Mountain from every other peak in the area and always being enticed by the broad meadows high up. They did not disappoint. Here are some photos that are mostly non repeats
Route Map
Parking along the road near our desired river crossing point
Lower down there was lots f blowdown but not much brush
Grizzly old cedar at 2600'
Blueberry bashing at 3500'
Nearly to the ridge at 4200'. I was hoping the brush would ease off then, but it just got worse!
Finally breaking out into the meadows at 4400'
Our first good look at the summit. At this point there are no problems left, just spectacular alpine wandering
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