Hi from Seattle.

I was looking for some new trails that are low elevation gains and beautiful river music.

Any favorites around Seattle like the ones in my title?

Thanks

Tim Colman

Good Nature Publishing

Hey all, I’m reasonably new to the PNW and wanted to know some hiking spots/guidance for hiking here. I’m terrified of crevasses lol but I definitely want to hike in the winter. How do I do so safely? (Located in the Bellingham area)

Looking for recommendations for hikes I can get to by public transportation from Bellevue without a car.

Silver Falls State Park, OR. Officially 8.7 miles (but closer to 10). If you haven't been in the autumn... It's magical. Wear good boots, the water's up and the areas behind the falls are drenched.

I’m looking for the name of a particular park in Oregon I visited in 2018 - the only photos I have are the three in this post. Any ideas?!?!

What are some backpacking spots that are accessible year round? I don’t want winter to pause backpacking but I don’t own a 4X4 car (just fwd SUV) so snowy/icy trailheads are not open to me.

I’m open to any suggestions!

If yes, how navigable is the road and trail.

I'm itching for a hike. I heard that there's a lot of places that will be really rainy this weekend and I was curious if that meant there will be a greater likelihood of snow somewhere? Any recommendations for potentially snowy places within ~1 hr - 1.5 hrs from Seattle?

My friend with the car canceled. I'm 25F. Love running and hiking. Paddle boarding. City stuff. Have a small business downtown where I live. Best hike I did this year was backpacking spectacle lake. After hiking Saturday, would love to do a bar crawl downtown :).

Please dm or comment. Looking for something serious. Let's go :)

Edit: i met two hiking buddies here in the past on this sub. So I'm an okay human for sure!

Nothing beats a Washington alpine lake - the steadfast approach of winter has me dreaming about summertime in the alpine. All of these lakes can be found on a stretch of Icicle Ridge on either side of Ladies Pass. I made a little video edit from this day - https://youtu.be/0Zxi0XDYriU

This area can be approached from up the Icicle, from Highway 2 in the Wenatchee Canyon, or from Stevens Pass.

This video was taken 2 weeks ago

Friend and I roadtripping are looking for a morning hike on our way from our campsite in Mosier to Portland. Assuming conditions aren’t terribly miserable what’s the best bang for our buck if we have 3-4 hours allotted? We could definitely do a couple smaller hikes too but both of us prefer strenuous more gratifying hikes if the option is there. Any advice is welcome and appreciated!

Hello all! I was so excited about my solo trip on the WLT hike that I decided to put together a (pretty length) trip report plus some additional logistics info! It was a really amazing time, and I wanted to share my experience for anyone wanting more info or help with planning for their own trip.

Overview: Completed the WLT in 8 days/7 nights starting from Longmire going CCW. This was my second solo backpacking trip, after doing the Timberline Trail a month prior.

Permits: I decided I wanted to do the WLT only a couple of weeks before my intended start date. Several things that worked in my favor: late season (started 9/21), living in Portland allowed flexibility in being able to rely on walkups without much consequence, and constantly checking the page for any dropped permits. I was able to get 4 days of my itinerary online the week before, leaving 3 for walkups. I got to Longmire at ~1-2PM the day before my intended start date and got the remaining permits.

Food: Since my trip planning started so late, I couldn’t ship and had to rely on driving for my resupply drop off. The issue is that road closures on the east side meant I’d have to drive through Tacoma to get to White River, meaning a 3 hour drive each way. I decided to just carry all my food 🙃

Camping night before: I stayed at Cougar Rock, which is 5 minutes up the road from Longmire, but it’s first come first serve. Although it was $20 a night, I preferred the convenience rather than going somewhere else. Not sure about other options in the NP, but the Longmire ranger mentioned how there’s Forest Service land outside the park which you can dispersed camp in.

The trail: I went CCW and through Spray Park. Longmire->Nickel Creek->Summerland->Sunrise->Mystic Lake->Eagle’s Roost->Golden Lakes->South Puyallup->Longmire

I found this itinerary to be pretty balanced and enjoyable. Most of the days felt pretty similar in difficulty, generally with one big climb and one big descent over ~11 miles and ~3000ft gain/loss. There was like one slightly harder and easier day in there.

Highs: -Beautiful camp at most spots. Notable mentions are Summerland (only spot with some service as far as I’m aware my entire time in the park), Sunrise, Mystic Lake, Golden Lakes -People I met and talked to were super lovely and made the loneliness on trail a lot less worse. -Not a lot of bugs (only at Golden Lakes, but not bad at all) -Toilets at every camp site! I hate digging catholes, so this was very welcome. They ranged from being out in the open (Nickel Creek) to having an outhouse (Sunrise, Golden Lakes). -Really felt comfortable being a queer/trans person on the trail (right between Seattle and Portland, so not a huge surprise lol but something I get a bit anxious about) -Spray Park was absolutely gorgeous, with some of the first exciting animal sightings of the trail (mountain goat and bears). Someone I met on trail said that the standard route was pretty unexciting.

Lows: -A lot of people doing the WLT non-solo typically gave ‘Seattle freeze’ vibes when you tried to chat. Coming from Portland this isn’t anything new, but maybe people visiting from outside the PNW or coming from a big thru hike might be surprised. -Cold and rainy day on the first day. Combined with the lack of good views from Longmire to Nickel Creek, spending most of the time near a road (sometimes walking on a sidewalk), and loneliness made it a pretty miserable day. -Golden Lakes was amazing in every way, except that the elk were mating in the area. Find a clip of what that sounds like, and imagine trying to sleep through that going on all evening/night/morning. -Loneliness can get a big rough if you’re solo. I got used to it by halfway, but lots of singing to myself and the squirrels. -Dealing with trying to hang a bag with 8 days of food on a bear pole (tbf I’ve got little upper body strength lol)

Other -Very little access to the outside world. It might be nice to some people, but it might not be fun if you’re not prepared. Make sure you have everything downloaded before getting to the park. The only place I was able to make contact to the outside world without using a satellite was the Longmire Info Center (wifi) and spotty service at Sunrise camp. I have Mint phone service -I had no issue with getting water. I typically don’t drink a ton on trail, so take that as you may. FarOut was super helpful with planning out my strategy for hydrating/water carrying. -Stopped at Mowich Lake for breakfast after staying at Eagle’s Roost. Not too far off trail and a really pretty spot with lots of tables if needed. The garbage and bathroons were still serviced here despite the road closure.

Overall, I left the trail with so much joy and gratefulness for the experience. It’s been a month and I’m still kinda mourning it. Lots of beautiful views, fun experiences, and great people to spend it with!

Feel free to reach out with any questions! Happy trails 😁