White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

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Sean Thomas
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White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Sean Thomas » September 18th, 2014, 7:12 am

My gf and I had another amazing time hiking a 27 mile loop in the Goat Rocks Wilderness last Saturday. We started the day at the PCT TH off hwy 12(White Pass) and made our way south into the wilderness. After a few miles of nice mid morning hiking on the PCT the trail opened up to some awesome views near Hogback Mountain. The moon was still out just peeking over the ridge :)


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Really pretty stretch of trail near hogback before you reach the turnoff for Shoe Lake:


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It was a windy morning but Thum was stoked :D :roll:


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Pretty soon we hit the turnoff for the Shoe Lake loop, which was gorgeous!


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The water appeared green in the morning light:


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Even the trail around the lake was scenic:


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Not log after rejoining the PCT further south we came to a junction with the Hidden Springs Trail, which we hopped onto and dropped a ton of eg into the North Fork Tieton River Valley. The Hidden Springs Trail has a nice viewpoint of some of the loftier peaks in the GR with lots of great campsites just below the PCT.


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Before we knew it we were hiking the North Fork Tieton Trail, which just sounds really cool :D :roll:


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This trail(like Hidden Springs) was in good shape despite the road washout down river making access to the Scatter Creek TH more difficult. Big thanks to whoever did all the logging out on those trail segments, it was a big help!! The best part of these segments werent the views(as there werent many) but the incredible diversity in conifer species. There were the typical suspects many of us are used to seeing(Western Hemlock, Doug Fir etc) as well as many of the "border species" that live just east of the cascade crest(Larch and Western White Pine were somewhat abundant) until the climate becomes too dry further east. Along with the Larch and Western White Pine there were some amazing Alaska Yellow Cedars as well. Here is a massive Western White Pine that sat just above the trail:


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And Jojo admiring a large Alaska Yellow Cedar:


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Evidence of all that hard work and a log for chase :)


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Arriving at the tree covered Tieton Pass where we ran into some friendly backpackers:


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Now it was time to head north on the PCT all the way back to the car at White Pass. This little chipmunk was looking for some trail magic I think:


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Just before we reached the stretch high above Shoe Lake looking east, there is a nice view of Mt Ranier from the PCT:


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The slog back to the car became anything but when we crested the ridge above Shoe Lake only to find about 20 Mountain Goats having a late supper just off the PCT:


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Those creepy, lifeless black eyes still bother me :D


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There were about six rambunctious kids in the mix just enjoying life before the sun went down:


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Here they are with Shoe Lake way down below:


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We admired the goats for about 20 minutes before witnessing one of the most amazing(and frightening) things we've ever seen out in the sticks. Just as we were about to leave a man and his border collie crested the ridge. The dog went into full herding mode and chased the entire herd about 200 yards across the rocky slope, coming within a few feet of the goats at times. Finally the goats were backed up below a steep cliff where one of the moms in the back of the herd turned and faced the dog head on, as if to say, "are you sure you want to come any further". The owner was now screaming in terror but the dog made the smart move and hightailed it back towards the ridge.
Actually as soon as the goat turned around the dog squealed and ran back to its owner like a little baby. I wont go too far into the whole "dogs on leash" debate but this probably would have been a good place for a leash :D After the dog left it was just time to go back to grazing :)


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With that hair raising experience out of the way we bombed back down to White Pass and picked up a cheapo hotel room in Packwood. We were living it up Roy style with our little "bivy and a bathroom"(thats me derping out with some I Love Lucy on in the background :D


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The next morning we got up early and shared some breakfast with a few other out of towners. The plan for Sunday was to find my sleeping bag near Hamilton Buttes, which rolled off the summit like a sled last spring when we snowcamped up there :? (dont ask :D Upon leaving Packwood we saw a few of the locals heading for church, well ok they were just eating the grass in front of the church but it has to count for something :D


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Pretty soon we were at the "TH" for Hamilton Buttes just below Mud Lake. We detoured to the lake and admired it in its liquid state:


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There were some really young locals going for a swim up there too:


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This area is home to the motor bikes and you can actually ride all the way up to the summit. We didnt see anyone up there but the trail to the top is rutted and incredibly dusty:


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Apparently we were lost:


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Before we knew it we were basking in the awesome 360 degrees views from the Hamilton Buttes summit:


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The summit is actually twice as tall as Ranier :D :roll:


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More amazing to us was just how different the landscape looked in comparison to last springs campout. Here are a few comparison pics to illustrate the contrast. This first set is looking toward Mt Ranier with Cozy Ridge in the foreground:


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Heres what it looked like last Spring with everything the eyes could capture dressed in white:


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Mud Lake can seen far below the summit too:


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Here is what it looked like last Spring, totally frozen over:


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We spent about 3 hours just lazing around on top and had one of the best times just relaxing and admiring the awesome views. Before we left for the car and the long trip back to Portland I thrashed around some goat trails in the loose rocky slopes below the summit, hoping to find the old sleeping bag :D No luck on the bag but I did find a bunch of the old firelookout that got destroyed in the 60's and was seeminlgy just tossed off the cliff. Hopefully the bag is being used by a goat or two other wise I feel like one of those littering, beer guzzling, target shooters who likes to start fires off the Clackama... nevermind, i dont want this thread to devolve any lower than it already has(oops, too late, im already in it :D )

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woodswalker
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by woodswalker » September 18th, 2014, 7:37 am

Great report! I have got to get to Goat rocks area next year. I'm so glad the dog incident passed without injury to anyone. It could have gone badly so easily. I've been down with an upper back injury for a month now and I am so envious of all the amazing fall hiking. Thanks for letting me see it vicariously.
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mcds
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by mcds » September 18th, 2014, 8:39 am

love those green lakes

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Sean Thomas
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Sean Thomas » September 21st, 2014, 8:39 am

Thanks Woods and MC :) The goat herding was definitely a new one for us out there, but like you said everyone was safe in the end and thats what matters most.

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Peder
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Peder » September 21st, 2014, 9:02 am

Exciting TR Sean - you will one day come across a mountain goat wearing, or otherwise using, the sleeping bag you lost!
Some people are really fit at eighty; thankfully I still have many years to get into shape…

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Splintercat
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Splintercat » September 24th, 2014, 7:03 pm

Nice report, Sean! I think this is a first report for this area on PH.org..! :)

Sad to hear about the goats being harassed, but I agree that the dog would have come out on the losing end had it not been frightened off. I'm with you on the leash ethic -- too many big dog people in "Born Free" mode when they hit the trail, IMO. Ours are just as happy being on a leash, and I also don't have to worry about losing them in the forest, where they would surely suffer a horrible fate. Most people are convinced their off-leash dogs will behave in the wilds just as they do at home -- until they see something in the woods and take off, ignoring freaked-out owners who may never see their pet again... :|

(...sorry about my mini-rant... happy to delete if I'm hijacking your thread, Sean!)

Tom :)

Limey
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Limey » September 24th, 2014, 8:28 pm

Another epic tr from you guys. It must cost you a fortune to haul all these animals with you for wildlife shots :lol:

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Born2BBrad
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Born2BBrad » September 25th, 2014, 6:38 pm

Non-gratuitous "great TR" comment combined with "love the pictures" remark.

Agreed that the dog got away lucky. I hope the owner learned something from it.

Brad
Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.
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Sean Thomas
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Sean Thomas » September 25th, 2014, 9:13 pm

Born2BBrad wrote:Non-gratuitous "great TR" comment combined with "love the pictures" remark.

I hope the owner learned something from it.

Brad

:lol: :lol: :lol: sometimes "great TR" is just the best option :D


as for the owner, he seemed pretty close to tarping and was listening to some audio books or something. After the goat encounter he just left the dog off leash :|

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Sean Thomas
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Re: White Pass to Tieton Pass and Hamilton Buttes: 9-14-14

Post by Sean Thomas » September 25th, 2014, 9:26 pm

Splintercat wrote:Nice report, Sean! I think this is a first report for this area on PH.org..! :)

Sad to hear about the goats being harassed, but I agree that the dog would have come out on the losing end had it not been frightened off. I'm with you on the leash ethic -- too many big dog people in "Born Free" mode when they hit the trail, IMO. Ours are just as happy being on a leash, and I also don't have to worry about losing them in the forest, where they would surely suffer a horrible fate. Most people are convinced their off-leash dogs will behave in the wilds just as they do at home -- until they see something in the woods and take off, ignoring freaked-out owners who may never see their pet again... :|

(...sorry about my mini-rant... happy to delete if I'm hijacking your thread, Sean!)

Tom :)

No worries at all Splint on the mini-rant, im quite partial to those myself :D And in this case I totally agree. I still get sick thinking about some of the offleash dogs many of us have seen at EC where they're let loose and left to their own devices, hanging over the edge of highbridge or the cliffs above twister falls(ive seen both). :?

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