[pct-l] Trail Section in Goat Rocks

[William Canavan]

Hi Lollygag,
I asked the trail maintainer for this section about the change of signs and
trails.  He said the official route has always been routed across the
glacier with the stock route.  He said hikers just started going up and
around on their own to avoid the scary glacier crossing, but up and over
has always been the alternate route.  He said the sign that pointed and
said "Hiker Route"/"Stock Route" was a mistake and never should have been
placed.  Now that the Packwood Glacier has receded almost to extinction it
was felt it was time to build the official trail on the official route.
 This wasn't a reroute.  It sounds though that you and others prefer the
alternate, and I don't know the future of that.
Little Brown



On Tue, Aug 27, 2013 at 8:06 PM, linsey <mowoggirl at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Dear Betty,
>
> Your photos are stunning and report entertaining and well written, but if
> I am to understand correctly, the official route has been rerouted to the
> old equestrian route and the REAL trail is no longer that but an alternate
> instead?!?
>
> Thank you so much for your work, as the equestrian route was in terrible
> shape, but if the official route has changed I will mourn its loss for the
> rest of my life.   Also, I suspect any future maintenance of the original
> Goat Rocks route will have very low, if any priority.   The Goat Rocks
> hiker route was a major highlight for me each of the four times I've hiked
> it, not to mention the equestrian route is plagued by snow much longer...
>
> All this PCT-L banter about inequitable speed record attempts reminds me
> that future records using the equestrian route will have a huge speed
> advantage over the REAL Hiker Route.
>
> Also, the title of your post should have read "Trail section in Goat Rocks
> Being Rerouted"...
>
> Mournfully, Lollygag
>