Goat Rocks Wilderness has few people, high peaks, lots of wildlife

We have a treasure in this state that is often overlooked. The Goat Rocks Wilderness stands as one of the most spectacular wilderness areas in the country, but Seattle-area hikers often ignore it because of the extra time needed to get there. Yet, the gateway to Goat Rocks - White Pass - is only an hour or so past Mount Rainier.

Goat Rocks offers outstanding foliage and great wildlife viewing this time of year. Acres of huckleberry bushes are painted deep crimson and vine maples are draped in orange, russet and gold. Herds of blacktailed deer roam the meadows, and black bears lumber through the woods, digging up every last bit of food they can find before crawling into a den for a long winter's nap. On top of that, hikers can often enjoy these sights - backed by stellar views of craggy, snowcapped peaks - while hiking for days at a time with no other human contact.

Sprawling over the crest of the South Cascades, the wilderness area is wedged along the eastern edge of Gifford Pinchot National Forest and southwestern side of Wenatchee National Forest, just south of Mount Rainier. To the west is the Yakama Indian Reservation and to the south is Mount Adams Wilderness.

High and wild

Goat Rocks offers some of the best alpine vistas and subalpine ecosystems in the Pacific Northwest. The area's peaks reach up toward 8,000 feet - impressive, though considerably lower than at one time. Goat Rocks has a violent, volcanic past. Long before Mount Rainier grew to its massive size, and millions of years before Mount St. Helens spewed ash into the sky in 1980, a volcano roughly the size of Mount Adams - more than 12,000 feet - was torn apart. Eruptions caused much of the destruction of the mighty peak, but nearly 5 million years of glacial, wind and water erosion did most of the damage.

The lofty cone that once existed there has been worn down into a series of jagged basalt spires and pinnacles linked by high, long ridges. The peaks range from 6,500 feet up to the highest, Mount Curtis Gilbert at 8,184 feet. Rolling along these high, connected ridges is the Pacific Crest Trail, cutting through some of that long pathway's highest, loneliest country. More than 100 miles of other trails also weave through the wilderness. Most of these intersect at some point as they climb from the low, forested valleys up into the high, subalpine meadows that are dotted with blue lakes and tarns. These lakes are fed by melt water from the handful of glaciers that still cling to the higher peaks and ridge lines.

One of my favorite autumn hikes is the Nannie Ridge/Walupt Lake Loop. Taking the southernmost access trail that still offers direct travel into the high lonesome, we left Walupt Lake - a big, blue lake half in, half out of the wilderness area - and climbed Nannie Ridge to Sheep Lake and the intersection with the Pacific Crest Trail.

Within the first 1.5 miles, the trail breaks into a bright, sun-splashed clearing. Continuing on up to the ridge crest, the views of the surrounding peaks continually improve, as do the chances of seeing wildlife, especially blacktailed deer and black bears. And as you near the east end of Nannie Ridge and approach Sheep Lake, add mountain goats to your list of wildlife to watch for.

Sheep Lake is a small alpine tarn surrounded by grassy meadows, with great views of Mount Adams and the vertical west wall of the Goat Rocks, Gilbert Peak and the Klickton Divide peaks just east of Cispus Pass.

Unlike the glacier-fed lakes found further north, spring-fed Sheep Lake can be just warm enough for weary hikers to take an invigorating dip before dinner. The best campsites are on the small hills lining the south shore. From here you'll be able to watch the sunset cast its alpenglow over the snowy flanks of Mount Adams to the south and steep walls of Gilbert Peak to the north.

Beware of bold critters

As beautiful as this area is, visitors need to be aware of marauding "bands of thieves" in this area. Chipmunks and mice live among the rocks on these hills and they are fearless little pillagers that will rifle through any unattended pack. One brave little chipmunk in broad daylight gnawed through a nylon food bag and a plastic zip-sealed baggie to get a mouth full of gorp.

From Sheep Lake, the Nannie Ridge Trail continues east a quarter-mile to a junction with the Pacific Crest Trail. Following the PCT north brings hikers to Cispus Pass and wonderful views of Ives Peak, the third tallest pinnacle, at 7,840 feet.

Bring plenty of warm clothes - you'll usually find the temperature dropping below freezing in the high country in October - and lots of film because you'll want to record the beauty of this trail.

Dan A. Nelson is publications editor and gear specialist for Washington Trails Association.