Hiking - Goat Lake

As a technology professional, I end up staring at screens much more that I should.  That may account for my desire to get outside when I can.  One of my favorite ways to get outside is to go on a hike.  Living in the Northwest lends itself to many spectacular hikes within a couple of hours of the house. 

On Father's Day this year, I decided we'd go on a hike to Goat Lake.  It was recommended by one of my coworkers who enjoyed it the week before.  So, I made everyone get up early, and we hit the trail. 

The trail follows Elliot Creek about 5 miles to the lake.  Along the way, the trail divided, so we went up to the lake by the creek and back down by way of the old logging road.  

We were doing fine until we were within half a mile of the lake.  We missed a switchback and ended up on a non-maintained, overgrown trail heading toward the falls.  After wandering around for a half an hour or so, we decided it was time for lunch.  We headed out to the little rocky island at the base of the falls and had our lunch.  The dog never really got relaxed, but it was a very cool place to be.

Goat Lake

After we got our energy back up, we doubled back, found our wayward trail, and made it up to the lake.  There were a couple of dozen others up there, some camping, some sleeping, some just enjoying the view like us. 

After the dog got his swim in, and we found a geocache, we headed back down.  The trail along the road was easier, but in the end, it was about 2 miles too long.  We got back to the car nice and tired and picked up some KFC on the way home. 

All in all, a good day.