Goat Rocks Wilderness

On a sunny summer day early in the millennium, I hiked into the headbasin of the North Fork of the Tieton River. The trailhead is reached via a forest road southeast of White Pass in Central Washington.

The trail was very pleasant, slowly climbing up through forest towards Tieton Pass. I was soon into the Goat Rocks Wilderness.

After 4 1/2 miles the trail reached Tieton Pass and the Pacific Crest Trail.  I headed south on the PCT for less than two miles, passing a small lake along the way. At that point the PCT had been rerouted to the southwest to protect sensitive habitat, a common occurrence along the entire length of the PCT.

I took the old trail (the original path of the PCT) into McCall Basin, a large subalpine meadow with a variety of colorful wildflowers. It’s a very popular place to camp in summer for equestrians and for elk hunters in the fall. I have always thought this was one of the jewels of the Goat Rocks Wilderness.

Alpine Wildflowers

After some fun exploring of the basin, I hiked up to a ridge with better views. I generally see elk and mountain goats nearby, but not this day.

Soon I turned around and began the hike back to the trailhead. What a great way to spend the day.