We drove down towards Arlington on the i5 and headed to the Mountain Loop Highway from Granite Falls, camping at Red Bridge. The aim was to do three trail runs / hikes over the long weekend as we prepared for our fall races.
Gothic Basin / Foggy Lake
We hadn’t hiked this trail before – we knew it was a little steep in places for trail running, but we were keen to travel light and hike fast. After the first kilometer on the gravel road to Monte Cristo, we turned into the forest trail. Nice easy running before the switchbacks started. After the switchbacks, some steep sections required using hands, but it was easy enough, although really hot work despite being 10 am. We passed lots of people hiking up to camp in the basin. Luckily it’s a big area so didn’t seem too crowded. We scrambled up to Foggy Lake and above to the col northeast of the lake. We had a great shady lunch with a breeze before beginning the decent. Smooth going – Gill saw a really long garter snake basking in the sun. More and more people were still heading up to the basin as we descended.
Afterwards, we decided to drive around the Mountain Loop to Darrington for ice cream, gas, and a catchup on the days Olympic results over a beer at Rivertime Brewing.
Mount Dickerman
We hiked Dickerman 10 years ago on a Canada Day weekend – all we can remember was lots of snow to reach the summit and good views. This time no chance of snow and we started at 7:30 am to beat the heat. Less of a trail run and more like a speed hike, but a good one. Nice shaded forest in the morning with good switchbacks. We passed a few other early starters and were first to the summit. Amazing views – Baker, Glacier Peak, and Rainier further south west.
Annoying numbers of mosquitoes at the top and not quite enough breeze to keep them away. After 30 minutes taking in the view and refueling we began the descent. Easier than Gothic Basin, but we already had that hike in our legs so we were trotting rather than running. Andy was 2:55 moving up and down, Gill 3:15. Great hike/run.
After bathing in the Stillaguamish River at our campsite, we headed into Granite Falls for a coffee and ice cream and to catch up on the Olympics. Good to hear Nanaimo’s Ethan Katzberg won hammer throw gold and Ukraine’s Mahuchich in took gold in the high jump.
Goat Lake
We started early, partly thanks to the logging operation hidden apposite the campsite that started at 4:30 am. We were running by 7 am along the nice grade of a former logging road that is thankfully now surrounded by 20 year old trees. After about 6 km the trail enters magnificent unlogged cedar forest before the few switchbacks up to Goat Lake.
Beautiful waterfall just below the lake. After a few photos we headed back down the trail – even smoother on the decent. Good easy trail run. We saw one person all morning.
Check out our photo album on Google Photos!
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.