Perrys hikes with the crew
#1
I’ve been able to get out on some more hikes with the new crew.

Green Mountain day hike
On 10/3/18 I took Adam, Grant and Albert on a 5 mile RT day hike on Green Mountain, Suiattle area.  We did encounter a couple inches of snow higher up.  The boys did fine.
   

Park Butte day hike
On 10/6/18  I took Adam, Grant and Albert on a day hike to the tarns by Park Butte, Mount Baker area.  We went 7.1 miles RT, with about 1,600 ft elevation gain.  They did fine.  In the open country, when I stopped once, Grant spotted a person in the distance coming toward us.  He did not want to follow me, and started to head the other way.  I was able to get Adam’s lead and head off in another direction, Grant and Albert then followed.

There were quite a few people on the trail, probably 6-8 with dogs.  I put the goats in a string a good part of the time in the open country, and part of the time on the trail to make things go more easily when passing people & dogs.

I realized that I should have had a halter on at least Adam (I had not packed any).  There were times when he’d stop to eat or look that required a pretty good tug on the lead.   Some new experiences with the goats, but overall, it went well.

   
   
   
   

Snowy Lakes
On Wednesday 10/10/18 I started on a 4 day pack trip with Adam, Grant and Albert.  My goal was to go to Snowy Lakes starting from the Cutthroat Lake trailhead.  This is off the PCT north of highway 20.

Due to a variety of reasons we did not get on the trail until 2 pm.   The trail is good so we went past Cutthroat lake and to a bench about half way up to Cutthroat pass.  That was about 4 ½ miles with 1,600 ft of gain.
There was still some nice color to the larches, but some seemed to be getting past their prime color.

Cutthroat Lake


   
   

Above Cutthroat Lake

   


 The bench above Cutthroat  Lake is a nice spot to camp.  It was mostly cloudy that day, but still some spots of sun.  When the sun went behind the ridge it got cold quickly. 

In the morning there was a pretty heavy layer of frost on my tent.  I packed up quickly and we headed up toward Cutthroat pass.

to be continued...


 
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#2
From the bench above Cutthroat Lake we headed up toward Cutthroat Pass.  The woods and views continued to open up as we gained elevation.

                                       
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#3
More pictures on the way up toward Cutthroat Pass.
       

About 1/2 mile before Cutthroat Pass itself, I headed up cross country to connect to the PCT heading north.

               

We got to the PCT and headed north.  We rounded a ridge and the trail was now covered with 2-3 inches of snow.
           

to be continued...
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#4
along the PCT:
               

About 4 1/2 miles from Cutthroat Pass is the unmarked side trail up to Snowy Lakes.

Lower Snowy Lake.  this is open, high alpine, heather meadow country.
                       

to be continued...
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#5
There are some amazing photos in here! Make sure to keep them in mind for next year's NAPgA calendar contest! I really love the colors in the 5th photo in your 2nd post. I wish the goats were slightly more centered, but the colors are just fabulous. I also love the 4th photo in your 3rd post. Beautiful composition! I would love to see that one in next year's calendar contest! Smile
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#6
Upper Snowy Lake:

               

We camped a little above upper Snowy Lake Thursday night.
   

It was cold (water bottles mostly frozen) but beautiful Friday morning.
               

to be continued...
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#7
Friday morning we headed cross country northwest down over Snowy Lakes Pass heading toward what looked like a nice larch filled bench about 400 feet lower.  Travel was through open woods, somewhat steep; but with some care to fined the easiest route, I was able to avoid really steep terrain.

We got down to a pretty little basin with meadows and larch.  Unfortunately, because it's a northwest facing basin, it was still mostly in shade even in mid morning.  From the small tarn, I headed south through meadows and came across a couple of old campfire rings complete with cut log benches.  Perhaps, from earlier sheep herding days?  I wish now I'd taken pictures of them.   I then came across an old trail which connected back to the PCT north of Methow Pass.   A fun little exploration!

       

Back on the PCT in the Methow Pass area:
           
 
Friday we headed back south on the PCT from Methow Pass toward Cutthroat Pass.  Although Friday was mostly sunny is was windy and pretty cool.  


Friday evening we camped near Cutthroat pass.  I was hoping for some sun, but there was a permanent cloud over Cutthroat Pass blocking the sun, with blue sky all around.  Friday night we got a little dusting of snow; and water bottles were mostly frozen in the morning.
       

Hiking out Saturday morning, the goats found some nice grass along the trail.

   

Saturday hiking out, we passed lots of people hiking in; many day hikers, and many planning to camp...more, good, people & dog encounter experience for the goats.  I had halters along this time and had the boys in a string for the busy part of the trail.

I saw a lot of beautiful country and golden larch, yet particularly later in the hike it was becoming evident that some of the larch ware loosing their needles and past their prime.  Still, a great hike.

Although there continue to be new situations, it seems like things overall go better/ more smoothly with each hike that I do with the new crew.
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#8
Incredible scenery, absolutely amazing. October looks to have been a wonderfully busy month for you and your new crew. I imagine that the weather will soon become too cold to get out in your part of the world? I am working on the opposite, it will soon be too scorchingly hot to venture out in the daylight!
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#9
Its really great to see more trip reports on this forum lately. Its the trip reports that are going to grow this hobby.

BTW, some of the best hikes you'll ever do are the ones with frost on the sleeping bag. It means you can hike in nice temperatures when the sun is up. Somehow we skipped autumn around here and went straight to late fall.
I don't drink beer, but if I did, I'd prefer Dos Equis.  Stay thirsty my friends!
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#10
Perry, I've been missing out on some of the wonderful areas in our state! I love all of the photos! Keep posting!
Goatberries Happen!
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