Goat Lake Backpacking Trip

For the last few years I’ve dreamt of backpacking through the Cascades and cementing my status as a true wanderlust adventurer. In order to make this dream a reality, I’d need to acquire all the gadgets and camping equipment needed. Instead of contributing to my 401k or paying off my car, I made prudent decisions such as buying bags of dehydrated chicken and rice in bulk, ungodly expensive backpacks, ultra light camping chairs and carbon-fiber trekking poles. As the years passed without taking a single trip, my gear sat in the corner gathering dust while my chicken and rice meals morphed into some sort of smelly, moldy powder. With my wanderlust dreams all but forgotten, my sister Rachel and her hubby Aaron called and proposed an idea...“Hey Jon how about you get off your sorry sulking butt, dust off your gear, stretch your legs and join us on a backpacking trip!? Also, it looks like you could lose a few or 12 pounds. Also, you should call your mother more often. Also, we miss you.” And just like that Aaron and Rach hopped on a plane and buzzed over to the great Pacific Northwest.

The night before our journey Aaron gave us a tutorial on how to properly fit our packs and load our gear.

Former REI professional giving Steph a proper backpack adjustment

After much debate we opted for a short, one night out-and-back trek to Goat Lake in the North Cascades. This was mostly because Steph and I were total noobs and didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew. Oh and did I mention Rachel was 14 weeks pregnant at the time?! What a boss. Not to diminish her amazing feat but I also was carrying around a 4-ish pound Taco Bell food baby in my tummy.

Anyway…we hit the road bright and early. Spirits were high even with the boys needing to stop to pee every 30 minutes.

With our bladders emptied and packs adjusted we hit the trail.

Aaron was so excited after a few paces he needed to stop and take a wiz.

Slowly but surely we made our way up the trail taking several breaks along the way allowing the out of shape folks (mostly me) to catch our breath and rehydrate.

Just before the lake we found the designated campground. Aaron was excited to demonstrate his outdoors expertise and teach us how to set up a proper backpacking camp. The rest of us were excited to let him do all the work.

Aaron skeptical of Rachel’s tent making skills

After setting up camp we headed down to our prime destination: Goat Lake. We had a blast exploring around and taking turns jumping into the ice cold lake. I took pictures. Rachel judged my pictures. Rachel then stole my camera to show me how a true photographer works. Aaron made several underwhelming TikToks. Steph judged his TikToks. Steph then stole Aaron’s phone to show him how a true TikTok influencer works.

We headed back to camp for our next backpacking lesson: how to cook dinner. This was another great opportunity to sit around and let Aaron do the work. He attempted to teach Steph and I how to filter and boil our water. We even cheated by buying the pre-made dehydrated meal packs from REI to keep it nice and simple. I nodded and pretended to listen while Aaron meticulously cooked all our meals. Not going to lie, there is virtually a zero percent chance I remember how to work our JetBoil the next time we backpack.

Steph lounging while Aaron cooks her dinner

Candid reaction to another cringe-worthy joke from Aaron

Aaron filters our water so we don’t die from dehydration

After dinner we headed back down to the lake for sunset. It ended up being a prime opportunity to get some maternity photos for Rachel. She loved every second.

We spent the evening “getting the shot” and having some good laughs at Rachel’s expense. Overall it was a solid first day on our mini backpacking trip. I slept pretty poorly and decided to get up early to snag some sunrise photos and prayed Aaron would have breakfast/coffee ready when I got back. He did not disappoint.

After breakfast we packed up and ventured back down the trail. We made couple fun pit stops along the way exploring the waterfalls and cascades of Elliot Creek.

Realizing Aaron is going to wear the “Schwing” hat

Alas we made it! Our first backpacking trip in the books. Will we go again? The short answer is it all depends if we can coax Aaron into hauling our gear, cooking our food, setting up camp and massaging our feet again. What say you Aaron??