Goat Peak was the first in a series of stops along the much beloved North Cascades Highway. We chose it specifically because I'd heard the larches were turning. The road up was long, but not particularly rough. After a long Forest Service road drive to take Grandpa Jack fishing the day before I would have welcomed a paved road to the trailhead. Not gonna lie, though, gaining 4,000 feet in the car instead of on foot was kinda nice.

The trail starts as what looks like an old road following a ridge before heading straight uphill. This was where some of the few people coming down encouraged us to continue on. (Pfft. Like we were going to stop. We're too stubborn for that, but I forgive them for not knowing.) The trees began transitioning from pine to larch and the larch from their usual bright green to their golden needles.

Our first view of the lookout made plain we'd be walking through a larch forest and even though the sun wasn't shining I almost had to avert my eyes. It was steep, but as the larches got better (smaller, more golden-orange than golden-green) we were invigorated.

We had the lookout to ourselves. The only negative was it was closed to the public so we couldn't go in. We sheltered from the wind and looked west toward North Cascades National Park. Cool. That's where we were headed next.

Quickly back down the trail and down the road. We had places to go, but we might have stopped once or twice or thrice to marvel at the larches and welcome fall.

📍On the lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville.