For our Memorial Day hike, we decided to head back up to the Mountain Loop Highway in the North Cascades. We chose Goat Lake, a 10.4 mile roundtrip hike.
About a quarter mile in the trail splits into two, and you can choose between the Upper Elliott and Lower Elliott. The trails rejoin three miles later, so we decided to go the Lower route on the way in and take the Upper on the way out. The first three miles were mostly along this river, with lots of pretty rapids and mini waterfalls!
We loved this giant tree in the middle of the trail!
Giant Skunk Cabbage
The trail was beautiful and had a gradual increase in elevation over the first four miles. The last mile up to the lake got pretty steep, but overall it was a fairly easy hike in terms of elevation gain.
Pretty waterfall just below the lake!
It took us about two and a half hours to reach the lake. It was pretty cloudy, but still beautiful!
Not a bad lunch view đŸ™‚
The Upper Elliott trail on the way back was not as interesting as the Lower trail by the river. It was much flatter and pretty much looked like this the entire way back, but hey, I’m not complaining!
This ten mile hike was our longest so far this year, and we were definitely feeling it by the end. We also did a 16 mile bike ride last night, so that could’ve been part of it too! Overall it was a great hike – not too challenging in terms of steepness, but a little longer for a day hike. We’re thinking about returning later this summer for a backpacking trip!
Hike Stats:
Length: 10.4 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1400 feet
Difficulty: Moderate – because of distance, not steepness
Location: North Cascades, Mountain Loop Highway
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