Day Five: Goat Lakes to Hopkins Lake
In my trail journal, I wrote, "We went from summer to winter in 48 hours." As we broke camp at Lower Goat Lake, it was sleeting. We took full advantage of the rock overhang to keep our gear relatively dry. I even wore my rain pants as we started out on the trail.
Usually the day gets warmer as time goes by, but this day got colder. In a few miles, the sleet turned into snow. We had to go down about 500 feet from Rocky Pass and then up 600 feet to Woody Pass, all in the cold and snow. Once we were on the ridgeline, we were at 6,600 feet and going up to 7,100--the highest point of the PCT in the state according to the guidebook.
Chuck and Kevin seemed excited about the snow--posing for photographs. All I could think about is my 1986 trip in the Pasayten Wilderness where it snowed six inches and forced us to leave by a different trail and beg a ride back to our car. Sure, snow was better than rain, but it could be a tricky situation. What's more, we were missing all the great views.
Because of the clouds and the cold, all I wanted to do was get down to the lake. After changing into the warmest clothes of the trip, I headed down with the rest of the group. We found a sheltered site not to far from the lakeshore, set up out tents and built a fire. Chuck even put up a temporary tarp.
We spent the rest of the day drying our shoes and socks, eating and hoping to stay war. Other backpackers also arrived and were jealous of our sheltered spot in the trees. While the cold and snow slowed down the spread of the forest fire, we were hoping for clear skies the next day.
