Backpacking Building Blocks Student-Only Backpack - Goat Lake (Monte Cristo)

Field trip: Backpacking Building Blocks (B3) Course

Backpacking Building Blocks Student-Only Backpack - Goat Lake (Monte Cristo)

Celebrate the beginning of summer as we hike along Elliott Creek to the beautiful turquoise Goat Lake. 10 miles roundtrip, with a steady but gentle elevation gain of 1400 feet, you will have plenty of time to enjoy lake on this beautiful North Cascades trail. This field trip will give B3 students the opportunity to try out gear and new skills on an easy overnight backpack with an experienced mentor.

  • Moderate
  • Easy
  • Mileage: 10.0 mi
  • Elevation Gain: 1,400 ft
  • High Point Elevation: 3,161 ft
  • Pace: 1-1.5 mph

As per Covid restrictions, carpooling will not be allowed with those whom we do not live with. We will all be responsible for traveling to the trail head that morning. 

In  a detailed email regarding the trip, I will provide directions and pass required to leave our cars there overnight. 

This is a very popular trail, one where you can take one side of the loop to the lake, and the other side back to the cars to get different perspectives of this well maintained trail. You will be navigating some rocky paths, some roots and some small stream crossings (that may be dry by early summer) and will require good sturdy hiking shoes or boots.

Please note that with a busy trail like this one is, I encourage sharing gear if you are able, to help eliminate our footprint on the campsites, of which there are only 15 of them to choose from.

Because campsites fill up very quickly, we will be leaving very early and on the trail no later than 8 am. It's under a 100 miles to the trail head, so fortunately, it's not that long of a drive and we have daylight on our side! 

All Covid requirements will be spelled out in the email that will go to each participant. 

Route/Place

Goat Lake (Monte Cristo)


Roster
Required Equipment

Required Equipment

The Ten Essentials, plus overnight gear as specified by the trip leader

Trip Reports