A quick trip to the Goat Rocks before the falls weather sets in. My father and I set out on Friday from the #95 trailhead for a quick look that we had never done before.

The 95 trail climbs quickly to goat lake and provides lots of views along the way. From the bright blue lake, we dropped a few hundred feet before quickly climbing up a “connector trail” directly to the PCT. This was more of a scramble up the ridgeline than a real trail, but it quickly got us to our destination.
The 95 trail climbs quickly to goat lake and provides lots of views along the way. From the bright blue lake, we dropped a few hundred feet before quickly climbing up a “connector trail” directly to the PCT. This was more of a scramble up the ridgeline than a real trail, but it quickly got us to our destination.

Camp was just above the treeline at the base of Old Snowy. The next morning, I took a quick trip up to the peak, which was a bit more technical than I expected. It was in no way difficult, but I did have to ditch my poles for a scramble near the summit block. On the way down, I opted to follow the PCT alternate trail down to the knife edge on the goat rocks. It is one of the most beautiful sections and well worth the time.

Heading out, we descended to snow grass flats, past split rock, and down #96 back to the parking area. Unfortunalty, we did encounter some angry hornets near the end and my dad’s poor dog got stung on the face. Other than that, it was a pleasant walk back as the weather slowly turned to rain. By the time we were back on the paved road, it had begun to pour down – proving that we had timed the trip just right.

I do feel a dit bad for everyone we passed who were heading up on Saturday. Radar showed several inches of snow falling where we camped.