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| Backpack | 20.00 Miles |
6,500 AEG |
| | Backpack | 20.00 Miles | 2 Days | | |
| 6,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | The Olympics are melting out early this year so checked out the route over the pass from Goat Lake into Royal Basin.
The format of trails in ONP goes, several miles with mild elevation gain alongside a river then a couple miles with 1000-1500ft gain. I got my butt kicked on the way trail up to Goat Lake and found myself missing for the gentler(??) grades and terraces of the canyon. Goat Lake is beautiful with its deep blue waters and calm reflections. I continued hiking up a steep snowfield to the pass 400ft above, then north along the ridge to an unnamed summit. Fantastic distant views incuding Rainier, Baker, Dungeness Spit. I retreated to the lakeside to camp.
On my second day I returned to the pass above Goat Lake and followed traces of a use trail north towards a scree field. This was incredibly steep, but loose enough that I could plunge step down except for a few tricky places. I lost 2000 vert within an hour - incredible what forgiving terrain does for you! Then a short bushwack through the subalpine veg onto the trail, where I made a short detour up to Royal Lake. Royal Lake is gorgeous as ever, but with the added bonus of no mosquitoes this early in the season. I met a friend and his buddies there and hiked a short way with them before boogeying down. Royal Creek and Dungeness River have a nice hint of pale blue from their glacial sources. |
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