Fastpacking: Goat Rocks Wilderness

Ever since Katy and I started trail running this past spring, we started thinking about how to combine this with backpacking. A few research articles hinted that this is totally a thing, and suddenly we didn’t feel so weird calling it “fastpacking”.

After backpacking a beautiful loop in the Goat Rocks Wilderness earlier this summer, I decided this would be a perfect place to start. The wildflowers would be out, the snow melted, and we could turn it into a longer loop with our ideal camp area about halfway through.

Figuring out our gear for this was interesting. We’ve been so used to having bigger backpacks and not caring as much about weight. This time the constraints were clear: I was running with a 12L Pack, Katy with an 18L pack.

Somehow we managed to fit:

– our food (mostly Gu’s, ProBars, a Mountain House,some Cheese/Sausage snacks)
– Pocket rocket stove and 100g fuel
– Water filter
– Hammock, tarp, some cord
– one 30 degree down sleeping bag
– Clothes to get us through the run and evening/night. (puffy, light wool layer, ultralight shell, synthetic leggings, extra socks, beanie)
– Maps/first aid/light/fire/compass/etc.

We decided to check out a little more than the standard Goat Rocks loop, and extended it by running from Berry Patch/Chambers Lake to Walupt Lake campground, tag Nannie Peak and Nannie Ridge, and link with the PCT as it goes over Cispus Pass and then meets up with the rest of the standard Goat Rocks loop. It’d be about 19 miles the first day, and 12 the second.

Trail 7A was a great start — it was fun, fast, and downhill to Cispus River. The trail was often overgrown but we generally had no issues finding or following it. Fording the river wasn’t too bad either – we crossed about knee-to-thigh-deep, and the water was moving fast, so we were glad to have a pole each for support.

At the campground, reports of a “dangerous cornice” at Cispus Pass spooked us a bit, but we carried on. It was a rough 2000′ of gain to Nannie peak, but some food at the top kept us moving toward the PCT.

Once on the PCT, the views really opened up. The running was really enjoyable past Sheep Lake and on towards Cispus Pass. The “dangerous cornice” was just a mellow snowfield, and the views from the pass were beautiful, looking into the Yakima Nation territory and the headwaters of the Kilickitat River.

The other side of the pass was even better: we cruised through meadows filled with wildflowers with  Mt. Adams and Mt. St Helens were in our face the whole time. It was epic. We picked up the pace and wrapped up the day a little bit later Snowgrass Flats, where we strung up the hammock, cooked up some dehydrated dinners, and relaxed as we watched the sunset light up the volcanoes all evening.

Gear wise, everything worked out great. It took a little reshuffling to figure out how to split the sleeping bag and hammock between the both of us, but we made it work and slept reasonably well. A single bag + down jackets + tarp kept was warm. Bugs weren’t a major issue either, thankfully.

The next morning, after packing up, we ate a ProBar breakfast on the move and continued the loop. We were glad to have saved this part for last, and also glad to have woken up early to avoid the crowds.

The second half of the Goat Rocks loop is more above-treeline running on great trails through blooming alpine meadows. We detoured to Hawkeye Point and then continued back down through the forest as we rounded out the loop. The last few miles went by fast as they were mostly downhill.

Back to the car, we faced our only real setback: a flat tire. The mosquitos were out in force, and it provided the motivation for what was surely the fastest tire-change I’ve ever done. We rode about 40 miles on the spare to a Firestone on the way home.

Overall the trip was a huge success, though there are a few gear-details we have to still dial in (we can continue to lighten the load, I could use a slightly bigger, more comfortable pack). I think this is going to open up a lot of terrain to similar trips, so now we get to look forward to what we can pull off during the rest of this summer and fall.

More pics at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/elygerbin/sets/72157647428811492

Some highlights:

Fastpacking. All we need for an overnight. We think.

Katy running along the PCT.

Indian Paintbrush at Snowgrass Flats

Eating some dinner during Sunset at Snowgrass Flats. Ridge between Old Snowy and Ives Peak illuminated behind us.

Mt Adams at Sunset.