Hiking and Backpacking in the Northwest

r/PNWhiking36.6K subscribers18 active
Mt Rainier Last week of May

I’ll be traveling to Portland next week and I wanted to do a day trip and hike and explore Mt Rainier for a day. I’ll be going next Wednesday, May 29th. What’s the best course of action to spend the day and how is the snow situation at this time of year? Would the best approach be to go towards Paradise? Thanks

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Thought I had it figured out, but...

My partner and I have been planning on hiking Spectacle Lake on Memorial Day weekend for months, but a recent review of Pete Lake, which is where we would start from, makes me worry there will be too much snow. I know we can handle some snow, but don't want to add any time getting to the trailhead or need any extra equipment like snowshoes (we do have microspikes).

We are fairly new to the PNW and brand new to backpacking, so figuring out which trails are accessible and don't require hard-to-get permits feels a little overwhelming at the moment. Buy I REALLY want to take advantage of my 3-day weekend and wake up somewhere magical!

For those who have more experience in the area, would Spectacle Lake be doable? If not, what other hikes would you recommend that are in the 20 mile or under range? We're based out of Portland and are willing to drive 3-4 hours, maybe even a little longer for the right hike.

Mt. Adams Memorial Day Weekend.

Looking at the weather over the last few weeks and into Memorial Day weekend it appears things don’t look too bad for a Mt. Adams summit attempt. Speaking to the Trout Lake Ranger Station they mentioned that things should be good to go given the last big snowfall was May 7th. All that snow should be consolidated and that last they checked the road was only snowed in about 3 miles out so could essentially drive up a little past Morrison Creek campground. The weather looks doable on Sunday and Monday. I’d be doing a two day summit. Anyone else planning a summit Memorial Day weekend? Or do you all think I’m stupidly in for a suffer fest going this early in the season? Oh also, the winter route is still the recommended route at the moment given the snow cornices on the summer route.

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Seattle Hikes for Late May

I'm taking a weekend trip up to Seattle next weekend and was hoping to do some hiking! I assume that Mt. Rainier is still completely snow covered- is there any shot of any trails being open? I can't find much info online. I know it's pretty early for the season but I do love snow so if there's a chance of throwing on some chains and getting out there I'm cool with it- I just can't find information on if roads will even be open. If not, anyone got any good recs for what will be hike able within a ~2.5 hour drive?

On average how far do you drive for a hike and how often ?

I’ve been in Olympia/Seattle area. It seems like all the good hikes are like an hour , hour half , two hours away. Is that same for others? It just seems like a lot of driving for a hike?

Mainly it seems like it’s slim pickings for an after work hike

crater lake & lassen mid june?

hi all! currently planning on visiting crater lake and lassen volcanic nps the week of June 17 and am wondering how accessible the roads might be. i've been trying to track on their websites, and it looks like lassen has made pretty good progress clearing the road, though i'm not sure what to anticipate for this time next month. i know the crater lake website says june or july to open but the snowpack was also pretty heavy this year. any thoughts on what to expect from people who live in the area or have travelled there in june would be appreciated!

Wallowas around Fourth of July

What’s the snow pack usually like around Eagle cap wilderness this time of year? Is it too early for backpacking?

Dog Mountain during weekday?

Hey all, I’m planning to hike Dog Mountain this coming week. It appears that I won’t need a permit since it isn’t a weekend, but if I understand correctly I will still need a parking pass. Are those passes available at the lot, or do I need to somehow reserve those ahead of time as well?

Also, how likely is it for the lot to fill up on a Monday? Thanks!

Gothic Basin or Hoh 5/18. WA

Hello, trying to decide if I should do gothic basin tomorrow. Realize there will be some snow. Or wait to closer in June ( 2 weeks near the end of my trip)

For tomorrow instead I would go to Hoh rainforest / Hurricane Ridge

WTA from a week ago says some snow I imagine I can do 6-7 miles of the trail atm

Dispersed Car Camping on the Gorge?

Anyone know if it's allowed/if there is spots. I found some pullouts along Wyeth Rd but maybe also trailheads like Wind Mt.? Not sure what ranger station to call either as Mt. Hood Forwst Districts don't go into the Gorge. Not looking for views, just somewhere to set up my tent and sleep for the night while I do day hikes in the Gorge. Thanks! Looking to just pull off the road and be next to my car

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Favorite Summit Hikes in Washington?

Hey all! There're obviously an incredible number of world-class hikes in Washington, and frankly, I'm downright embarrassed by the riches here. But – if you had to pick 1-3 of your personal favorite summit hikes, what would they be? Please feel free to include hikes of any length, difficulty, and class up to class 3. Relevant tips would be greatly appreciated as well!

I would start this off but I haven't done enough summit hikes to have a favorite yet 😅, so I'll just say that the hike up to Camp Muir absolutely blew my mind a couple years ago.

First Time at the PNW

Hello all! I will be visiting the PNW soon with another person in my party. I have a couple of questions regarding Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Olympic National Park, and Snoqualmie Falls.

Regarding Mt. St. Helens: the climbing permits are above Loowit Trail and above, correct? Is there a sort of online visitor's pass/timed entry reservation or parking pass to purchase or are they purchased in-person on the day of hiking? Where are the best places for parking?

Regarding Mt. Rainier: it's required to purchase both the Timed Entry Reservation and $15/each visitor Standard Entrance Pass?

For Olympic National Park, is the only pass needed the Standard Entrance Pass? Would I need anything else for parking? Which are the best places for parking?

And last but not least Snoqualmie Falls. I'm understanding that parking could be paid with $7 (plus tax), but is there a free reservation need to be made online?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Roast my WA trip itinerary

Hi all, North Carolinian here planning to visit your beautiful corner of the country for the first time this summer. I'm planning to move to the PNW sometime in the next ~5 years and am anticipating at least 2-3 more trips to experience different seasons and different regions - if you notice that I'm missing something big (i.e. Olympic NP, a lot of really awesome state parks), I'm probably saving it for next time :) I have ~2 weeks and am planning to split the time between Seattle, Mt. Rainier NP and North Cascades NP.

My rough itinerary is below, I'd appreciate any suggestions on the hikes I've picked. I've listed several that have caught my eye but obviously won't get to all of them. I'm fairly fit, used to 10-20 mile day hikes in WNC, and particularly enjoy longer/more challenging adventures.

EDIT: I'm not planning on doing every hike listed here and the order they are listed is not necessarily the order I will do them in. I like to keep it flexible and will probably end up doing some easier ones in between the strenuous ones.

  • days 1-4: arrive in Seattle, explore the city.
  • days 4-7:
    • Stay in Packwood
    • 3 days: day hikes in Paradise area
      • Camp Muir via skyline trail
      • Gobblers knob
      • Eagle Saddle or Van Trump Trail
    • 1 day: day hike in Sunrise area (can't decide which of the following to do)
      • Panhandle gap & Sarvant glacier via wonderland trail
      • Burroughs mtn loop
      • Mystic lake via wonderland trail
      • Grand park
  • days 8-9:
    • stay in Leavenworth
    • 1 day: chill, explore Leavenworth, maybe a short hike
    • 1 day: Enchantments thru hike
  • days 10-14:
    • stay in Winthrop
    • 4 days: day hikes in NCNP
      • Cascade pass & Sahale arm
      • Maple pass to Wing lake
      • Ruby Mountain
      • Cutthroat lake via PCT
Early season backpacking?

What are your early season backpacking recommendations? I just did Ancient Lakes recently and want to get back out there!

Washington roadtrip help needed!!

Hello everyone,

We have started planning our summer trip again, and this time we have decided to explore the northwest of America.We have created a first draft of the trip ourselves, but we would like to receive your feedback based on your experiences. For us, it's the first time in this area, so everything is new to us. You might notice immediately that we haven't included any cities in the itinerary. This is because we are not really interested in city visits and usually end up disappointed when walking through American cities, haha. We prefer to spend our time in nature and national parks. Besides visiting the highlights, our daily activities mainly consist of hiking trails, with no limit on the number of kilometers or difficulty level, as long as we can do it in one day. We are not fans of camping and therefore stay in hotels, etc. Advice on beautiful trails in this region is very welcome.

NEW ROUTE:

DayPlace startDriving timePlace to go
1Amsterdam01:17Seattle AIrport/ Mount Rainier
2Mount Rainier - sunriseMount Rainier - paradise
3Mount Rainier - paradiseMount Rainier - paradise
4Mount Rainier - paradise03:45Quinalt
5Quinalt01:15Forks
6Forks01:05Port Angels
7Port AngelsPort Angels
8Port Angels(ferry)Bellingham
9Bellingham03:06Winthrop
10WinthropWinthrop
11Winthrop02:07Leavenworth
12Leavenworth02:10Seattle
13SeattleAmsterdam

Activity per day:

  1. Naches Peak Loop Trail (5,6), Sunrise Nature Trail (2,4km), Sunrise Point Lookout
  2. Mount Fremont Lookout Trail via Sourdough Ridge Trail (9,2km), Silver Falls Loop (4,7km)
  3. Skyline Loop Trail (9,2km), Alta Vista Trail (2,6km), Nisqually Vista Trail (1,8km), lookout points
  4. Eagle Peak Trail (10,8km)
  5. Lake Quinault (Quinault Rain Forest Trailhead), World's Largest Sitka Spruce, Ruby Beach, Half of Moses Trail (1,8km), Spruce Nature Trail (2,3km)
  6. La Push Beaches, Hole-in-the-Wall from Rialto Beach, Shi Shi Beach Trail, Cape Flattery (1,9km), Makah Cultural & Research Center Museum
  7. Hurricane Ridge (lookout), Big Meadow Loop (0,6km), Mount Angeles via Klahhane Ridge Trail (9,0km), Obstruction Point Road, Elk Mountain Trail Loop (7,2km), 
  8. Sol Duc Falls (2,6Km), Marymere Falls Trail (2,7km), Lake Crescent (lookout), Mount Storm King (6,6km), Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge
  9. Oyster Dome trail (10,1km), Chuckanut Drive, Diablo Lake Vista Point (lookout), Sterling Munro Trail (0,5km)
  10. Maple Pass Trail (10,5km), Rainy Lake Trail (3,2), Blue Lake Trail (7,4km)
  11. Cascade Pass and Sahale Arm or Desolation Peak Trail via Ross Lake 
  12. Colchuck Lake Trail (14km), Goldmyer Hot Springs Property
Seeking Advice for Enchantments

a friend who does a fair amount of hiking scored the lottery for mid July for a party of 4 (she entered as a favor to me) into the Core Zone and has decided she wants to make this her first backpacking adventure. it will also by my partner's first, though she and i do a lot of hiking.

the other two of us have done lots of backpacking, and a number of trips together. between the two of us we have most of the gear that the party will need, and the few outlying items will be easy to get, and pack weights won't be too bad.

my original idea, since there are two first timers, was for us to go in from the east, take the more gradual approach up to the the top of Aasgard Pass, and just go back the way we came, maybe even doing the latter part with day packs so as to camp in one place for all the nights, and make the overall trip easier.

based on the distances, though, i'm wondering if it would be smarter to just push on through with packs and get to spend a night near Colchuck Lake. the downside here would seem to be that aggressively steep descent past the top of Aasgard Pass.

if any of y'all who know this terrain have any suggestions, or see upsides or downsides that i might not be thinking of here, i'd be stoked to hear them.

we're about a month deep on doing at least 1 hike per week of increasing difficulty (both distance and elevation), and we're going to start incorporating pack weight for those hikes in June. i feel like we'll be pretty well prepared physically and in terms of gear, just not sure what the right choices are and any insights would be very much appreciated.

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Mt Rainier or Olympic?

First timer. Will be in Seattle a couple of days in early June. Will only have time for one good hike. Recommendations for “best bang for your buck” hikes? Will be hiking with 1.5year old and wife, so can’t be too long and difficult. Drivable scenery welcome too! Thanks in advance!

North Cascades in June

Hey guys, I'm looking for a difficult day hike in the North Cascades early June that would be something incredible, but no snow shoes. Sahale is looking like the most interesting, but on AllTrails, it seems like no one is hiking it now. I like lakes, glaciers, and lots of elevation gain. Not a mountaineering route. Anyone have any pointers? Thanks in advance!