No Moon. Just Stars.

NANNIE RIDGE-SHEEP LAKE
Goat Rocks Wilderness, Washington
~9-10 miles, ~ 1800 feet elevation gain

tiny tent, lots of stars (photo by AJP)

No plan. Only the idea to ascend into the alpine, on a trail we’ve never been on before. Climbing through forest, we break out on to the ridge- we’re too early for the flower peak, as the snow pack has only just melted off. But we are out. Unplugged. Disconnected.

Goat Rocks. 

Andy approaching Sheep Lake on the Nannie Ridge Trail

Simply put, it’s an incredible place. This will be our 5^th trip here since Andy and I first started backpacking in 2004. It’s just love. 

We start late (2pm), climbing the Nannie Ridge trail, our goal Sheep Lake. No matter. There is no particular agenda for this trip except getting away. Putting the kabosh on work week stress, decompressing. 

the spider was a surprise :) (photo by AJP)

 

It’s a lovely trail, and an area in Goat Rocks we’ve never been to before. Much less frequented than the glorious Snowgrass Flats area (an area which has earned its reputation as some of the best alpine scenery anywhere). Still, it’s a fantastic ridge ramble once you get there. In Goat Rocks, the scenic payoff always makes you work for it. 

 

husband & mountain on the Nannie Ridge trail

There is no moon tonight. We’re hoping for the Milky Way and a reprieve from ambient light.   

Sheep Lake is charming; the mosquitoes, not so much. Andy snores in the tent while I stalk flowers and the ever-changing light. 

Fugly, but somehow cute too

the sunset shores of Sheep Lake & Mount Adams

Adams from the sun-dappled meadows near Sheep Lake

At midnight, we climb out of the tent, gaze upward, feel like children on a field trip to a planetarium. 

feeling like a child (photo by AJP)

(photo by AJP)

Bliss.

 

<3 (photo by AJP)